chemistry

Zirconium nitrate

Zirconium nitrate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zirconium nitrate rather than just read about it. In short: Zirconium nitrate is a volatile anhydrous transition metal nitrate salt of zirconium with formula Zr(NO3)4. It has alternate names of zirconium tetranitrate, or zirconium(IV) nitrate.

Key takeaways

Zirconium nitrate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zirconium nitrate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zirconium nitrate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Zirconium nitrate is a volatile anhydrous transition metal nitrate salt of zirconium with formula Zr(NO3)4. It has alternate names of zirconium tetranitrate, or zirconium(IV) nitrate.

Formation The anhydrous salt can be made from zirconium tetrachloride reacting with dinitrogen pentoxide. ZrCl4 + 4 N2O5 → Zr(NO3)4 + 4ClNO2 The product can be purified by sublimation in a vacuum. A contaminating substance in this is nitronium pentanitratozirconate. (NO2)Zr(NO3)5. Zirconium nitrate pentahydrate Zr(NO3)4·5H2O can be formed by dissolving zirconium dioxide in nitric acid and then evaporating the solution until it is dry. However it is easier to crystallise zirconyl nitrate trihydrate ZrO(NO3)2·3H2O from such a solution. Zirconium is highly resistant to nitric acid even in the presence of other impurities and high temperatures. So zirconium nitrate is not made by dissolving zirconium metal in nitric acid.

Properties Zirconium nitrate pentahydrate dissolves easily in water and alcohol. It is acidic in aqueous solution, and a base such as ammonium hydroxide will cause zirconium hydroxide to precipitate. The pentahydrate crystals have a refractive index of 1.6.

Related substances Related substances are zirconium nitrate complexes. Zr(NO3)3(H2O)+3 has a tricapped trigonal prismatic structure, with the nitrates connected by two oxygen atoms each (bidentate). The pentanitrato complex Zr(NO3)−5 has all the nitrate groups bidentate, and has a bicapped square antiprism shape. NO2[Zr(NO3)3·3H2O]2(NO3)3 crystallizes in the hexagonal system, space group P3c1, with unit cell dimensions a = 10.292 Å, b = 10.292 Å, c = 14.84 Å, volume 1632.2 Å3 with 2 formulae per unit cell, density = 2.181. CsZr(NO3)5 crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/n, with unit cell dimensions a = 7.497 Å, b = 11.567 Å, c = 14.411 Å, β=96.01°, volume 1242.8 Å3 with 4 formulae per cell, density = 2.855. (NH4)Zr(NO3)5·HNO3 crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pna21 with unit cell dimensions a=14.852 Å, b = 7.222 Å, c = 13.177 Å, volume 1413.6 Å3 with 4 formulae per cell, density = 2.267. A mixed nitronium, nitrosonium pentanitratozirconate crystallizing in the tetragonal system also exists.

Use Zirconium nitrate is manufactured by a number of chemical suppliers. It is used as a source of zirconium for other salts, as an analytical standard, or as a preservative. Zirconium nitrate and nitronium pentanitratozirconate can be used as chemical vapour deposition precursors as they are volatile, and decompose above 100 °C to form zirconia. At 95 °C, zirconium nitrate sublimes with a pressure of 0.2 mm of Hg and can be deposited as zirconium dioxide on silicon at 285 °C. It has the advantage in that it is a single source, meaning it does not have to be mixed with other materials like oxygen, and decomposes at a relatively low temperature, and does not contaminate the surface with other elements such as hydrogen or fluorine. Zirconium free from hafnium is required for nuclear reactor construction. One way to achieve this is via a mixed aqueous solution of hafnium nitrate and zirconium nitrate, which can be separated by partitioning the zirconium into tributylphosphate dissolved in kerosene. Zirconium nitrate can be used as a Lewis acid catalyst in the formation of N-substituted pyrroles. Anhydrous zirconium nitrate can nitrate some organic aromatic compounds in an unusual way. Quinoline is nitrated to 3-nitroquinoline and 7-nitroquinoline. Pyridine is nitrated to 3-nitropyridine and 4-nitropyridine.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zirconium nitrate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zirconium nitrate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zirconium nitrate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zirconium nitrate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zirconium nitrate

In research: Zirconium nitrate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zirconium nitrate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zirconium nitrate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Nitrates, Zirconium(IV) compounds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zirconium nitrate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zirconium nitrate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zirconium nitrate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zirconium nitrate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zirconium nitrate in simple terms?

Zirconium nitrate is a volatile anhydrous transition metal nitrate salt of zirconium with formula Zr(NO3)4. It has alternate names of zirconium tetranitrate, or zirconium(IV) nitrate.

Why does Zirconium nitrate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zirconium nitrate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zirconium nitrate.