Moissanite
Silicon carbide mineral / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Moissanite (/ˈmɔɪsəˌnaɪt/)[5] is naturally occurring silicon carbide and its various crystalline polymorphs. It has the chemical formula SiC and is a rare mineral, discovered by the French chemist Henri Moissan in 1893. Silicon carbide is useful for commercial and industrial applications due to its hardness, optical properties and thermal conductivity.
Silicon carbide mineral
| Moissanite | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General | |
| Category | Mineral species |
| Formula (repeating unit) | SiC |
| IMA symbol | Moi[1] |
| Strunz classification | 1.DA.05 |
| Crystal system | 6H polytype, most common: hexagonal |
| Crystal class | 6H polytype: dihexagonal pyramidal (6mm) H-M symbol: (6mm) |
| Space group | 6H polytype: P63mc |
| Identification | |
| Color | Colorless, green, yellow |
| Crystal habit | Generally found as inclusions in other minerals |
| Cleavage | (0001) indistinct |
| Fracture | Conchoidal – fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, e.g., quartz |
| Mohs scale hardness | 9.25 |
| Luster | Adamantine to metallic |
| Streak | greenish gray |
| Diaphaneity | transparent |
| Specific gravity | 3.218–3.22 |
| Refractive index | nω=2.654 nε=2.967 |
| Birefringence | 0.313 (6H form) |
| Dispersion | 0.104 |
| Ultraviolet fluorescence | orange-red |
| Melting point | 2730 °C (decomposes) |
| Solubility | none |
| Other characteristics | Not radioactive, non-magnetic |
| References | [2][3][4] |