Lithium metaborate is a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one ele ...

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

, boron, and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

with elemental formula . It is often encountered as a hydrate, , where ''n'' is usually 2 or 4. However, these formulas do not describe the actual structure of the solids. Lithium metaborate is one of the borates, a large family of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

s (ionic compounds) with anions consisting of boron, oxygen, and

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

Structure

Lithium metaborate has several crystal forms. The γ form is stable at 15 kbar and 950 °C. It has a polymeric cation consisting of a tridimensional regular array of tetrahedra sharing

vertices, alernating with lithium cations, each also surrounded by four oxygen atoms. The B-O distances are 148.3 pm, the Li-O distances are 196 pm.

Applications

Laboratory

Molten lithium metaborate, often mixed with lithium tetraborate , is used to dissolve oxide samples for analysis by XRF, AAS, ICP-OES, ICP-AES, and ICP-MS, modern versions of classical

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. The process may be used also to facilitate the dissolution of oxides in acids for wet analysis. Small amounts of lithium bromide] or lithium iodide may be added as

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and

crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...

release agents. Lithium metaborate dissolves acidic oxides with ''x'' < ''y'', such as SiO₂ , , , , , , , and Fe₂O₃. Lithium tetraborate, on the other hand, dissolves

basic BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

oxides with ''x'' > ''y'', such as CaO, MgO and other oxides of the alkali metals and alkaline earth metals. Most oxides are best dissolved in a mixture of the two lithium borate salts, for spectrochemical analysis.

References

David R. Lide (1998): ''Handbook of Chemistry and Physics'', edition 87, pages 4–66. CRC Press. M. Marezio and J. P. Remeika (1966): "Polymorphism of LiMO2 Compounds and High‐Pressure Single‐Crystal Synthesis of LiBO2". ''Journal of Chemical Physics'', volume 44, issue 9, pages 3348-. Terrance D. Hettipathirana (2004): "Simultaneous determination of parts-per-million level Cr, As, Cd and Pb, and major elements in low level contaminated soils using borate fusion and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry with polarized excitation". ''Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy'', volume 59, issue 2, pages 223-229. Fernand Claisse (2003):
Fusion and fluxes
. ''Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry: Sample Preparation for Trace Element Analysis'', volume 41, pages 301-311. Borates Lithium salts {{inorganic-compound-stub