Zirconium for use in jewelry. Zirconia is a component in some abrasives, such as grinding wheels and sandpaper. A small fraction of the zircon is converted to the metal, which finds various niche applications. Because of zirconium's excellent resistance to corrosion, it is often used as an alloying agent in materials that are exposed to aggressive environments, such as surgical appliances, light filaments, and watch cases. The high reactivity of zirconium with oxygen at high temperatures is exploited in some specialised applications such as explosive primers and as getters in vacuum tubes. The same property is (probably) the purpose of including
Synthetic membrane alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), and both the osmotic- and electrodialysis-based osmotic power or blue energy generation. Ceramic membranes are made from inorganic materials (such as alumina, titania, zirconia oxides, recrystallised silicon carbide or some glassy materials). By contrast with polymeric membranes, they can be used in separations where aggressive media (acids, strong solvents) are present. They also have excellent thermal stability which make them usable in high temperature membrane operations. One of the critical characteristics of a synthetic membrane is its chemistry. Synthetic membrane chemistry usually refers to the chemical nature and composition of the surface in