Boron Oxide
Boron Oxide, also known as boron trioxide is one of the oxides of boron and possesses the formula B2O3. It is a white, glassy solid that is almost always found as the vitreous form. It can be manufactured by dehydrating boric acid at an elevated temperature, fusing a mixture of sodium tetraborate plus sulfuric acid at 800 deg C, and feeding a mixture of borax and sulfuric acid to a fusion furnace where molten boron oxide and sodium sulfate separate into layers at temperatures above 750 deg C. To produce high purity, 99%, grade boron oxide granular boric acid is fuse refined in a glass furnace fired by oil or gas. The molten glass is then solidified, crushed, and screened.
Boron oxide is used as a fluxing agent, starting material for synthesizing other boron compounds, an additive used in glass fibers, material for producing borosilicate glass, inert capping layer in the Liquid Encapsulation Czochralski process for the production of gallium arsenide single crystal, and an acid catalyst in organic synthesis.