On its own, silicon makes lustrous, blue-grey crystals, but its chemical properties—namely, its affinity for oxygen ... Another form, amorphous silicon, is used to make the glass that covers ...

In 1811 Gay-Lussac and Thenard probably obtained impure amorphous silicon by heating potassium with silicon tetrafluoride; however, the discovery of this element is usually credited to Berzelius ...

Transition metals have long been used as catalysts to activate small molecules and turn them into valuable products. However, as these metals can be expensive and less abundant, scientists are ...