Zirconium Company of America, Inc. 1921

Click thumbnails for expanded view.

$59.95

Quantity Available: 1

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Zirconium Company of America, Inc. issued in 1921. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company name. This item is hand signed by the companys vice-president and treasurer and is over 79 years old. Zirconium was discovered in Germany in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, zirconium was named after the mineral in which it was found. Zirconium is a strong, hard metallic element obtained primarily from the mineral zircon, or zirconium silicate. It was first purified in 1925 by the deBoer-van Arkel method. Lustrous and grayish-white in color, it is used chiefly in refractory bricks, blocks and in the glazes and colors for ceramic products. Stabilized zirconium oxide serves as an opacifier and pigment in pottery glazes. Foundry molds also use zircon in their facings because it resists metal penetration and helps provide a uniform finish. The cladding for fuel rods in nuclear reactors is another significant application. Some automotive sensors and furnace sensors use yttria-stabilized zirconia to help control combustion.