Zirconium(II) hydride is a molecular chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a grey crystalline solid or dark gray to black powder. It has been prepared by laser ablation and isolated at low temperature.[1]
Zirconium(II) hydride has repeatedly been the subject of Dirac–Hartree–Fock relativistic calculation studies, which investigate the stabilities, geometries, and relative energies of hydrides of the formula,,, or MH.
Zirconium(II) hydride has a dihedral (C2v) structure. In zirconium(II) hydride, the formal oxidation states of zirconium and hydrogen are +2 and −1, respectively, because the electronegativity of zirconium is lower than that of hydrogen. The stability of metal hydrides with the formula (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) decreases from Ti to Hf.
Zirconium(II) hydride is used as a thermal neutron moderator in nuclear reactors and as a material for neutron reflectors in fast reactors.
Zirconium(II) hydride in the form of a powder is used in powder metallurgy as a hydrogenation catalyst, vacuum tube getter, foaming agent in the production of metal foams and as a reducing agent.