Zirconium: Not Just For Rings and Things

If you’ve ever watched a shop at home television channel or been in the market for inexpensive jewelry, then you’re probably familiar with cubic zirconia, the synthetic alternative to diamonds. According to Wikipedia, cubic zirconia has been the most “economically important competitor for diamonds since 1976.” More generally, though, zirconium is a chemical element (Zr) that is found in nature within the earth’s crust and sea water. Its applications are much wider-ranging than jewelry.

Zirconium’s global usage shows that it is predominantly used within the field of technical ceramics. For instance, 54% of China’s zirconium consumption goes towards ceramics. Zirconium is extremely hard, stable, and dense. It is overwhelmingly strong. Its fine grain size makes it perfect for creating sharp blades. Ceramic knives are one of the latest crazes in kitchenwares, for instance. In addition to sharpness, zirconium can be used to create porous ceramic filters and diffusers for washing and spraying functions. Its durability, density, and corrosion resistance allows it to be used in applications that require dealing with acids.

I stumbled across this page, which gives a lengthy overview of zirconium, from its global availability and application to end users and producers.

Zircon consumption, like that of most other commodities, has been hit by the global economic slowdown. However, supply (both existing and potential), too, appears to have been impacted equally, if not more, severely. Not only have a number of suppliers in both Africa and Australia (for example, Australian Zircon NL (Bloomberg Ticker—AZC:AU)) been facing financial challenges, with consequent decreases in production, but other producing countries have also been facing limitations on production. Indonesia, in particular, saw zircon production fall more than 40% in 2008 from the level in 2007.

In addition, Refractron has an excellent page about a special kind of zirconium, Yttria Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal (Y-TZP).

Y-TZP has a material density of greater than 6.0 g/cc, a maximum operating temperature of 2000 C. This material has the highest flexural strength of the zirconia materials particularly when processed using a HIP (Hot Isostat Press). Values are 900 MPa and 1400 MPa (HIP'd). The hardness is 13-13.5 GPa, Fracture Toughness is 8.0 MPa-m1/2 and Thermal expansion (C.T.E.) is 10.2 x E6/ degree C).

So the next time you’re up late and watching QVC shilling cubic zirconium rings, remember that what you’re actually seeing is a product related to technical ceramics.