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carborundum
Silicon carbide (SiC, see silicon), a black, cubic crystalline solid, made by heating coke with silica in an electric furnace. It is almost as hard as diamond (whose structure it resembles), and hence it is used as an abrasive. Carborundum is inert, refractory, and a good heat conductor, so is used in making high-temperature bricks; at high temperatures it is a semiconductor.
Related category
• INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
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