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(IV) chloride Zirconium(IV) chloride Zirconium(IV) chloride, also known as zirconium tetrachloride, () is an inorganic compound frequently used as a precursor to other compounds of zirconium. This white high-melting solid hydrolyzes rapidly in humid air. Unlike molecular TiCl, solid ZrCl adopts a polymeric structure wherein each Zr is octahedrally coordinated. This difference in structures is responsible for the disparity in their properties: is distillable, but is a solid. In the solid state, ZrCl adopts a tape-like linear polymeric structure—the same structure adopted by HfCl. This polymer degrades readily upon treatment with Lewis bases, which cleave the Zr-Cl-Zr linkages. This conversion entails treatment