Hafnium - Chemical Compounds

Chemical Compounds

Hafnium and zirconium form nearly identical series of chemical compounds. Hafnium tends to form inorganic compounds in the oxidation state of +4. Halogens react with it to form hafnium tetrahalides. At higher temperatures, hafnium reacts with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, boron, sulfur, and silicon. Due to the lanthanide contraction of the elements in the sixth period, zirconium and hafnium have nearly identical ionic radii. The ionic radius of Zr4+ is 0.79 angstrom and that of Hf4+ is 0.78 angstrom.

Hafnium(IV) chloride and hafnium(IV) iodide have some applications in the production and purification of hafnium metal. They are volatile solids with polymeric structures. These tetrachlorides are precursors to various organohafnium compounds such as hafnocene dichloride and tetrabenzylhafnium.

The white hafnium oxide (HfO₂), with a melting point of 2812 °C and a boiling point of roughly 5100 °C, is very similar to zirconia, but slightly more basic. Hafnium carbide is the most refractory binary compound known, with a melting point over 3890 °C, and hafnium nitride is the most refractory of all known metal nitrides, with a melting point of 3310 °C. This has led to proposals that hafnium or its carbides might be useful as construction materials that are subjected to very high temperatures. The mixed carbide tantalum hafnium carbide (Ta₄HfC₅) possesses the highest melting point of any currently known compound, 4215 °C.