thumb|The [[orthoborate anion, a simple borate anion]]

A borate is any of a range of boron oxyanions, anions containing boron and oxygen, such as orthoborate , metaborate , or tetraborate ; or any salt of such anions, such as sodium metaborate, and borax . The name also refers to esters of such anions, such as trimethyl borate .

Natural occurrence

Borate ions occur, alone or with other anions, in many borate and borosilicate minerals such as borax, boracite, ulexite (boronatrocalcite) and colemanite. Borates also occur in seawater, contributing to the absorption of low-frequency sound in seawater.

| alt5 = The structure of the tetrahydroxyborate ion

| File:Perborate ion.png

| The structure of the perborate ion (). This anion is a cyclic molecule with a tetrahedral molecular geometry at the boron atoms. It contains two bridging peroxide groups () and four hydroxyl groups () attached to boron atoms, two per each boron. The ring has a chair conformation.

Thin films

Metal borate thin films have been grown by a variety of techniques, including liquid-phase epitaxy (e.g. FeBO<sub>3</sub>,

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  • Suanite at webmineral
  • Johachidolite at webmineral
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