Zirconium

iso	NA	half-life	DT	DE (MeV)	DP
⁸⁸Zr	syn	83.4 d	ε	-	⁸⁸Y
⁸⁹Zr	syn	78.4 h	ε	-	⁸⁹Y
⁹⁰Zr	51.45%	⁹⁰Zr is stable with 50 neutrons.
⁹⁰Zr	11.22%	⁹¹Zr is stable with 51 neutrons.
⁹²Zr	17.15%	⁹²Zr is stable with 52 neutrons.
⁹³Zr	syn	1.53x10⁶ y	β−	.060	⁹³Nb
⁹⁴Zr	17.38%	1.1x10¹⁷y	β-β-	-	⁹⁴Mo
⁹⁶Zr	2.8%	2.0x10¹⁹y	β-β-	3.348	⁹⁶Mo

All properties are for STP unless otherwise stated.

Zirconium is the 40th chemical element on the periodic table of elements. It was first isolated by Jons Jakob Berzelius in 1824. Zirconium has no known biological uses. It forms both organic and inorganic compound. It is used commonly as an alloy agent because of its high resistance to corrosion. There are only five naturally occurring isotopes of Zirconium, three of which are stable. Short term exposure to Zirconium powder can result in minor irritation and inhalation could cause skin and lung granulomas.

History

Zirconium has a very detailed and interesting history to it. Zircon was mentioned in Biblical writings. But, it was not determined to contain a new element until 1789 when Klaproth discovered something while he was studying a jargoon from the island of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. A jargoon is a zircon that is fine enough to be cut into a gemstone. Jargoons are usually colored green, brown, yellow and some are colorless. He named a new element in the jargoon Zirkonerde. The element was brought up again in 1808 by Humphry Davy. He tried to isolate it by electrolysis. He unfortunately failed. Then finally in 1824, Jons Jakob Berzelius isolated an impure form of zirkonerde by heating a mixture of potassium and potassium –zirconium fluoride in an iron tube. After this accomplishment the element was brought to its current name, zirconium. But, zirconium was still not discovered in a pure, industrial metal form. Then, in 1925, Anton Eduard van Arkel and Jan Hendrik de Boer developed a process called the crystal bar process or the Iodide process. Basically, this process involved thermally decomposing zirconium tetraiodide. Finally, 20 years later in 1945, William Justin Kroll developed a similar process that was much cheaper. This is the complicated, but interesting history of Zirconium.

Properties

Zirconium is a lustrous, grayish-white, strong, transition metal that resembles titanium. It has all of the other characteristics of metals. It is solid at room temperature. But, at low temperatures it becomes brittle. When it is ground into a powder it is highly flammable, while as a solid it is much less likely to combust. It is highly resistant to corrosion by many agents including salts, alkalis and even water. The two substances it will dissolve in are hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, even more so in the presence of fluorine. Zirconium is the fourth least electronegative in front of yttrium, lutetium, and hafnium. When it is first collected from coastal waters it is refined through spiral concentrators designed to remove extra sand and gravel. Also through magnetism, ilmenite and rutile are removed from the collection.

Compounds

Since zirconium is a transition metal, it forms many inorganic compounds. One common one is zirconium dioxide (ZO₂) also known as zirconia. This compound has amazing fracture toughness and chemical resistance, particularly in its cubic form. Therefore zirconia is commonly used as a thermal barrier coating; it is also a common diamond replacement. Another interesting compound is zirconium-tungstate. This compound is particuarly unusual because, when it is heated it shrinks in all directions, while other compounds will expand when heat is applied. Another unusual characteristic of zirconium-tungstate is that it is one of two compounds that exhibits both superconductivity and ferromagnetism. The only other compound to do this is UGe₂ There is an entire study of compounds containing carbon-zirconium bonds called Organozirconium Chemistry. Most organozirconium compounds are usually used as polymerization catalysts. The first compound to be used in this fashion was zirconocene dibromide. This was developed by John. M. Birmingham at Harvard University

Occurrences

Zirconium is usually mined. The annual production level of Zirconium is around 900,000 metric tons. Usually it is found in the ratio of 130 milligrams per kilogram in the earth’s crust. Zirconium’s most valuable commercial use is in the form of the silicate mineral, Zircon. This is a very commonly mined mineral in places like Australia, Brazil and India. In fact, Zircon resources exceed 60 million metric tons worldwide. Zircon is a byproduct of the mining and processing of titanium. Zirconium also occurs in more than 140 different minerals including baddeleyite and kosnarite. One interesting fact about Zirconium is that it was found on the Earth's moon during the Apollo missions. It is also common in S-type stars. In fact lunar samples from earth’s moon show that the moon contains a relatively high level of zirconium oxide in relation to terrestrial rocks.

Uses

The most common use of Zirconium is diamond replacements called Zircon Diamonds

Because of its resistance to corrosion Zirconium is often used as an alloy agent. It is used on alloys in things like surgical instruments and metallurgical furnaces. A compound called Zircon was cut into gemstones for use in jewelry. Zirconium Carbonate used to be in lotions to help treat poison ivy but was put out of use because it caused some minor skin reactions. However, the main use of zirconium is in nuclear reactors. In fact, 90% of all Zirconium is used for this. Zirconium is used to make the fuel rods that power nuclear reactors. This is not only because they are resistant to corrosion, but, it is also permeable to neutrons. Alloys containing Zirconium are used on space vehicles because of their resistance to heat. Another interesting use of zirconium is that it is used in making BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bombs for an incineration effect. These bombs were used mainly for aviation purposes. These are the main uses of Zirconium.

Other

Zirconium was found on Earth's moon during the Apollo Missions.

One interesting fact about Zirconium is that it was found on the Earth's moon during the Apollo missions. It is also common in S-type stars. In fact lunar samples from earth’s moon show that the moon contains a relatively high level of zirconium oxide in relation to terrestrial rocks.

References

Zirconium
Zirconium Periodic Table
Lenntech:Zirconium
[Chemistry for Christian Schools- Second Edition. Heather E. Cox et al. Bob Jones University Press. 2000.]
: Nuclear Power Reactors

Zirconium

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Contents

History

Properties

Compounds

Occurrences

Uses

Other

References

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