Zirconium has a wide range of applications

Zirconium has a wide range of applications

Zirconium has a wide range of applications. Zirconium accounts for about 3% to 4%, and is mainly used in ceramics, refractory materials, etc. in the form of zirconium silicate and zirconium oxide. This part of the application accounts for more than 90% of zirconium consumption. In addition, zirconium has excellent nuclear properties, so the thermal neutron absorption cross-section is small, only 0.1810-28.

One of the important uses of zirconium and its alloys is as fuel cap materials and other structural materials for atomic energy reactors. Therefore, the research and development of zirconium and zirconium alloys are closely related to the development of the nuclear power industry. They were initially used in nuclear-powered ships and later actively developed nuclear power plants.