Zirconium dioxide of Mars to provide both fuel and oxidizer that could be used as a store of chemical energy for use with surface transportation on Mars. Carbon monoxide/oxygen engines have been suggested for early surface transportation use as both carbon monoxide and oxygen can be straightforwardly produced by zirconia electrolysis without requiring use of any of the Martian water resources to obtain hydrogen, which would be needed for the production of methane or any hydrogen-based fuels. Zirconia is also a potential high-k dielectric material with potential applications as an insulator in transistors. Zirconia is also employed in the deposition of optical
Zirconium dioxide is usually the case. A small percentage of the oxides of calcium or yttrium stabilize in the cubic phase. The very rare mineral tazheranite (Zr,Ti,Ca)O is cubic. Unlike TiO, which features six-coordinate Ti in all phases, monoclinic zirconia consists of seven-coordinate zirconium centres. This difference is attributed to the larger size of Zr atom relative to the Ti atom. Zirconia is chemically unreactive. It is slowly attacked by concentrated hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid. When heated with carbon, it converts to zirconium carbide. When heated with carbon in the presence of chlorine, it converts to zirconium tetrachloride. This conversion is