Zirconium 40 Zr 91.224(2)   Switch element to... actinium aluminium aluminum americium antimony argon arsenic astatine barium berkelium beryllium bismuth bohrium boron bromine cadmium caesium calcium californium carbon cerium cesium chlorine chromium cobalt copper curium darmstadtium dubnium dysprosium einsteinium erbium europium fermium fluorine francium gadolinium gallium germanium gold hafnium hassium helium holmium hydrogen indium iodine iridium iron krypton lanthanum lawrencium lead lithium lutetium magnesium manganese meitnerium mendelevium mercury molybdenum neodymium neon neptunium nickel niobium nitrogen nobelium osmium oxygen palladium phosphorus platinum plutonium polonium potassium praseodymium promethium protactinium radium radon rhenium rhodium roentgenium rubidium ruthenium rutherfordium samarium scandium seaborgium selenium silicon silver sodium strontium sulfur sulphur tantalum technetium tellurium terbium thallium thorium thulium tin titanium tungsten ununbium ununhexium ununoctium ununpentium ununquadium ununtrium uranium vanadium xenon ytterbium yttrium zinc zirconium Go adjacent... Sc Ti V Y Zr Nb Lu Hf Ta

The essentials

Description 

Here is a brief description of zirconium.

• Standard state: solid at 298 K
• Colour: silvery white
• Classification: Metallic
• Availability:

  zirconium is available in many forms including foil, nanosized activated powder, powder, rod, sponge, bar, sheet, and wire.

Small and large samples of zirconium foil like this, as well as sheet and wire, can be purchased from Advent Research Materials via their web catalogue.

Zirconium is a greyish-white lustrous metal. The finely divided metal can ignite spontaneously in air, especially at elevated temperatures. The solid metal is much more difficult to ignite. The inherent toxicity of zirconium compounds is low. Hafnium is invariably found in zirconium ores, and the separation is difficult. Commercial grade zirconium contains from 1 to 3% hafnium. The hafnium is removed from the zirconium used in the nuclear power industry.

The image above is a virtual representation of zirconium metal calculated by Patrick Callet using the complex diectric function of the element only.

Zirconium is found in S-type stars, and has been identified in the sun and meteorites. Analyses of lunar rock samples show a surprisingly high zirconium oxide content as compared with terrestrial rocks. Some forms of zircon (ZrSiO₄) have excellent gemstone qualities.

Isolation

Zirconium is available from commercial sources so preparation in the laboratory is not normally required. In industry, reduction of ores with carbon is not a useful option as intractable carbides are produced. As for titanium, the Kroll method is used for zirconium and involves the action of chlorine and carbon upon baddeleyite (ZrO₂). The resultant zirconium tetrachloride, ZrCl₄, is separated from the iron trichloride, FeCl₃, by fractional distillation. Finally ZrCl₄ is reduced to metallic zirconium by reduction with magnesium, Mg. Air is excluded so as to prevent contamination of the product with oxygen or nitrogen.

ZrO₂ + 2Cl₂ + 2C (900°C) → ZrCl₄ + 2CO

ZrCl₄ + 2Mg (1100°C) → 2MgCl₂ + Zr

Excess magensium and magnesium dichloride is removed from the product by treatment with water and hydrochloric acid to leave a zirconium "sponge". This can be melted under helium by electrical heating.

	Web webelements.com