Thread: Cerium Oxide for smoothness

Since this thread is slowing let me put a spark in it.

Have any of you tried Zirconium oxide?

Exotic stuff that is. I typically associate it with sapphire polishing but I know it is aimed at the metal polishing market too. Some of the bigger raw suppliers offer dispersions with particle size as small as 15 nanometers. Damn thats small. The product is not particularly pure, even in the electronic and optical grade product. This usually means that the source crystal that they mill the powder from will be polycrystalline, not single crystal. Single crystal source material always offers better shape characteristics and it will almost always last longer. Also, single crystal is usually not as friable as poly.

I have no personal experience with this product but I did take the time to go thru my suppliers technical data sheet before sending this reply.

Though poly won't last as long for some applications it's what you want. It will breakdown and become finer and finer as you use it.