Beryllium carbide
Beryllium carbide, or Be2C, is a metal carbide. Similar to diamond, it is a very hard compound.Preparation
Beryllium carbide is prepared by heating the elements beryllium and carbon at elevated temperatures. It also may be prepared by reduction of beryllium oxide with carbon at a temperature above 1,500°C:
Beryllium carbide decomposes very slowly in water:
The rate of decomposition is faster in mineral acids with evolution of methane.
However, in hot concentrated alkali the reaction is very rapid, forming alkali metal beryllates and methane:
