SILICA, in the free state and combined with metallic oxides, constitutes about 60% of the solid crust of the earth; it is one of nature's fundamental building materials. The chemist in his search for new and better products often finds that natural materials possess the properties he desires and silica is particularly interesting because it melts at over 1,700° and is highly resistant to chemical attack, except by hydrofluoric acid and strong alkali. It would seem, therefore, that the control d formation or deposition of pure silica is a rather important chemical problem. In all silicates examined so far, the silicon atom lies between four oxygen atoms. This arrangement appears to be universal and according to Bragg (1) the bonds between silicon and oxygen are so strong that the four oxygen atoms are always found at the corners of a tetrahedron of constant dimensions and regular shape, whatever the rest of the structure may be ...
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Cogan et al. (1946) studied this question.