Ceria-zirconia oxides is thermodynamically favorable in a wide range of solid solution compositions, which means that ceria-zirconia is metastable with respect to phase separation. Ceria-zirconia is widely used as a component in current three-way catalytic converters. The ceria-based component of the converter has several functions, including promoting the dispersion of the noble metals in the catalyst, but also storing and releasing oxygen. The incorporation of zirconium in modern converters, forming ceria-zirconia, improves the performance of the catalyst by enhancing the resistance of the material to sintering, and simultaneously increasing the ability of the oxide to accommodate oxygen vacancies in its structure.
Zirconium(II) hydride the atomic number increases. Zirconium(II) hydride Zirconium(II) hydride, ZrH is a molecular chemical compound which has been prepared by laser ablation and isolated at low temperature. Zirconium(II) hydride has repeatedly been the subject of Dirac–Hartree–Fock relativistic calculation studies, which investigate the stabilities, geometries, and relative energies of hydrides of the formula MH, MH, MH, or MH. Zirconium(II) hydride has a dihedral (C) structure. In zirconium(II) hydride, the formal oxidation states of hydrogen and zirconium are −1 and +2, respectively, because the electronegativity of zirconium is lower than that of hydrogen. The stability of metal hydrides with the formula MH (M