Background | Name | Sources | Uses | Substitutes and Alternative Sources
Background Zirconium (Zr) is a grayish-white, metallic element with an atomic number of 40. It naturally combines with silica and oxygen to form the mineral zircon (ZrSiO4), the primary ore of this element. Zircon has been known since biblical times, and it has been called by a variety of names, including jargon, hyacinth and jacinth.
In the late 1700’s, the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth suspected that there was a new element to be found in this mineral. He reduced the mineral zircon to zirconium oxide in 1789, but never isolated the metal. In 1824, Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius isolated an impure zirconium metal, but it wasn’t until 1914 when pure zirconium was finally produced.
Zirconium reacts with oxygen, forming a thin coating of zirconium oxide on its surface. This coating protects the metal from further oxidation. Zirconium is quite resistant to corrosion by acids and other chemicals, and is valued in industry for this resistant quality.
Zirconium has no beneficial or adverse effect on living organisms, and is resistant to corrosion. Based on these properties, it has proven to be a good material for artificial limbs and joints.
Analysis of the rocks collected on the moon has shown that zirconium is a common element on the surface of the moon.