ChemicalBook CAS DataBase List Zirconium

Zirconium synthesis

6synthesis methods

Product Name:Zirconium
CAS Number:7440-67-7
Molecular formula:Zr
Molecular Weight:91.22

Zirconium was first produced in elemental form in 1824 by Berzelius, but it was brittle because it contained impurities such as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. In 1914, the first relatively pure zirconium was prepared by reducing zirconium tetrachloride with sodium in a bomb furnace. Highpurity zirconium was produced by Van Arkel and de Boer in 1925 by vaporizing zirconium tetraiodide into a bulb containing a hot tungsten filament, which caused the tetraiodide to dissociate, depositing zirconium on the filament. The zirconiumisrecoveredas brightextremelypuremetalcrystals.This procedure was later used for the commercial production of zirconium in the United States. Dr. Kroll from the Bureau of Mines conducted research and produced high-purity zirconium on a commercial scale in 1944; the Kroll method is now used for large-scale commercial production of zirconium.
In 2009, resources of zircon in the United States included about 14 million tons associated with titanium resources in heavy-mineral sand deposits. Phosphate and sand and gravel deposits have the potential to yield substantial amount of zircon as a future by-product. Eudialyte and gittinsite are zirconium silicate minerals that have a potential for zirconia production. Currently, identified world resources of zircon exceed 60 million tons.
The production of zirconium metal must be carried out in an atmosphere from which water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen are rigorously excluded; otherwise, the metal becomes brittle and impossible to fabricate.

10026-11-6 Synthesis