Zircon, Zirconium, Zirconia - Similar Names, Different Materials (PDF)

In this book, you will find a lot of exciting and often astonishing information about these extraordinary and diverse materials. The presentation is essentially chronological and follows the history of the discovery of these materials. Their properties and areas of application are described along the way. The book represents a mixture of technical and non-fiction book: understandable for experts and laymen.

Three different materials that are often confused because of their similar sounding names.

• Zircon is an ancient mineral and has great geological significance. It is a genuine gemstone and similar to diamond.

• Zirconium is the 40th chemical element and as a metal it is characterized by extraordinary properties. For example, it is permeable to thermal neutrons. In addition, there is a group of special zirconium alloys, e.g. zirkalloy.

• Zirconia is a special modification of zirconium oxide, is only produced artificially and,like zircon, is similar to diamond. Zirconium oxide itself is one of today's most important high-performance ceramics, with a wide range of applications in dentistry or in a lambda probe, among others.

The Author

Dr. Bozena Arnold (formerly Boczek) is professor emeritaof materials engineering at the HAW Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and has many years of experience in imparting materials engineering knowledge.