Beryllium

Beryllium

Beryllium is the chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl and chrysoberyl...

 oxide (BeO), also known as beryllia, is an inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 BeO. This colourless solid is a notable electrical insulator with a higher thermal conductivity than any other non-metal except diamond, and actually exceeds that of some metals. As an amorphous solid, beryllium oxide is white. Its high melting point leads to its use as a refractory

Refractory

A refractory material is one that retains its strength at high temperatures. ASTM C71 defines refractories as "non-metallic materials having those chemical and physical properties that make them applicable for structures, or as components of systems, that are exposed to environments above...

. It occurs in nature as the mineral bromellite

Bromellite

Bromellite, whose name derives from the Swedish chemist Magnus von Bromell , is a white oxide mineral, found in complex pegmatitic manganese-iron deposits, but is more frequently made synthetically...

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