Title: Obtaining, studying the properties, and application of zirconium(IV) oxymethanesulfonate
Abstract: The author has investigated the process to obtain zirconium (IV) oxymethanesulfonate via the interaction between methane sulfonic acid (CH3SO3H) (MSA) and zirconium (IV) oxocarbonate (ZrOCO3.nH2O), and explored its basic physical-chemical and technological properties. The research was undertaken to address the lack of data on the chemistry of such a class of organic compounds as zirconium (IV), as well as to examine their possible application in modern materials science.The methods of element, X-ray phase, thermal, and infrared analyses have confirmed that the product of interaction between zirconium (IV) oxocarbonate (ZrOCO3.nH2O) and methane sulfonic acid is zirconium (IV) oxymethanesulfonate with the composition ZrO(CH3SO3)2.4H2O.It has been established that the synthesized zirconium (IV) oxymethanesulfonate is a white crystalline powder, which dissolves well in water while is weakly soluble in ethanol and isopropyl alcohol. It absorbs moisture in the open air. It thermally decomposes in the temperature range of 390‒410 оС, forming a low-temperature cubic zirconium dioxide modification that, at temperatures above 750 °C, consistently passes into the monoclinic structure of zirconium dioxide. At the zirconium (IV) oxymethanesulfonate thermolysis there form the nanodispersed powders of zirconium dioxide whose size of primary particles is 20‒50 nm, which, under the action of dispersion forces, agglomerate into aggregates of 200–400 nm. The specific surface of powders, determined based on a BET procedure, is 32 m2/g. It has been shown that the aqueous-alcohol solutions of ZrO(CH3SO3)2.4H2O actively interact with solid surfaces thereby forming hyperfine near-the-surface polymerized films, from which, when treated thermally, the surface coatings are formed from zirconium dioxide. Thus, new data have been acquired on the chemistry of complex compounds of zirconium(IV). This paper shows promising application of zirconium (IV) oxymethanesulfonate for the needs of modern materials science