What is "silicon carbide"

Carborundum \Car`bo*run"dum\ (k[aum]r`b[-o]*r[u^]n"d[u^]m), [a trade name, from Carbon + corundum.] A beautiful crystalline compound, silicon carbide ( SiC), consisting of carbon and silicon in combination; -- also called carbon silicide. It is made by heating carbon and sand together in an electric furnace. The commercial article is dark-colored and iridescent. It is harder than emery, and is used as an abrasive.

n. (context chemistry English) A binary compound of silicon and carbon, SiC; it is one of the hardest known materials, and is used as an abrasive, under the trade name Carborundum, and as a refractory material.

n. an extremely hard blue-black crystalline compound (SiC) used as an abrasive and a heat refractory material; crystals of silicon carbide can be used as semiconductors

Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum , is a compound of silicon and carbon with chemical formula SiC. It occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite. Silicon carbide powder has been mass-produced since 1893 for use as an abrasive. Grains of silicon carbide can be bonded together by sintering to form very hard ceramics that are widely used in applications requiring high endurance, such as car brakes, car clutches and ceramic plates in bulletproof vests. Electronic applications of silicon carbide such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and detectors in early radios were first demonstrated around 1907. SiC is used in semiconductor electronics devices that operate at high temperatures or high voltages, or both. Large single crystals of silicon carbide can be grown by the Lely method; they can be cut into gems known as synthetic moissanite. Silicon carbide with high surface area can be produced from SiO contained in plant material.