Zirconium nitrate 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
Zirconium(III) chloride Zirconium(III) chloride Zirconium(III) chloride is an inorganic compound with formula ZrCl. It is a blue-black solid that is highly sensitive to air. The material was first claimed by Ruff and Wallstein who reduced zirconium tetrachloride with aluminium to give impure samples. Subsequently, the problem with aluminium contamination was solved when it was prepared by reduction using zirconium metal: When aluminium is used as the reducing agent with zirconium tetrachloride, a series of choloroaluminates are formed, for example [Zr(AlCl)(AlCl)] and Zr(AlCl). Since the trihalides, such as zirconium trichloride, are comparatively nonvolatile, contamination can be avoided by using a gaseous reductant. For