2,039°F (1,115°C)

Similar to silicon and aluminium, naturally-occurring germanium compounds tend to be insoluble in water and thus have little oral toxicity.

Silicon dioxide clusters are found to have higher thermal energies and lower average bond lengths and are thus more stable than Germanium dioxide clusters. At n = 1, both nanoclusters are non-polar, but gradually become more polar with increase in n.

GeO2reacts with acid an base both so, it is an amphoteric oxide. Tin oxide SnO2reacts with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide both so, it is amphoteric.

Oxides

• Acidic Oxides.
• Basic Oxides.
• Amphoteric Oxides.
• Neutral Oxides.
• Peroxides and Dioxides.
• Compound Oxides.
• Preparation of Oxides.
• Trends in Acid-Base Behavior.

Germanium dioxide, also called germanium oxide, germania, and salt of germanium, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula GeO2. It is the main commercial source of germanium. It also forms as a passivation layer on pure germanium in contact with atmospheric oxygen.

On the other hand, the pure SnO2 has a fair basicity, and the introduction of a smal amount of V2O5 (V = 2–20 atom%) to SnO2 remarkably enhances the basicity. It can be said that the SnO2-rich (V < 20 atom%) catalysts are basic, while the V2O5-rich catalysts are acidic.

Germanium is stable in air and water, and is unaffected by alkalis and acids, except nitric acid. Germanium is an important semiconductor, mainly used in transistors and integrated circuits. They are often made from germanium to which small amounts of arsenic, gallium, or other metals. Germanium ores are rare.

A Silicon crystal lattice has a diamond cubic crystal structure in a repeating pattern of eight atoms. Each Silicon atom is combined with four neighboring silicon atoms by four bonds. Silicon, a very common element, is used as the raw material of semiconductors because of its stable structure.

Silicon is used for electronic devices because it is an element with very special properties. One of it’s most important properties is that it is a semiconductor. This means that it conducts electricity under some conditions and acts as an insulator under others.

First reason is that Si forms on its surface very easily a thin layer of SiO2 which is a very good insulator and which technologically can be very easily processed. Ge has higher electron and hole mobilities and because of this Ge devices can function up to a higher frequency than Si devices.