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
Zirconium carbide plasma sintering also has been used to produce fully densified ZrC. Poor oxidation resistance over 800 °C limits the applications of ZrC. One way to improve the oxidation resistance of ZrC is to make composites. Important composites proposed are ZrC-ZrB and ZrC-ZrB-SiC composite. These composites can work up to 1800 °C. Zirconium carbide Zirconium carbide (ZrC) is an extremely hard refractory ceramic material, commercially used in tool bits for cutting tools. It is usually processed by sintering. It has the appearance of a gray metallic powder with cubic crystal structure. It is highly corrosion resistant. This Group IV interstitial transition-metal