Guys: That Cubic Zirconia Is More Valuable Than You Know!

Mention the term "Cubic Zirconia" and what's the first thought that comes to your mind? "Cheap" is correct. Cubic Zirconia has been the first and last refuge for setting into diamond engagement rings from either well-meaning guys who are on limited budgets, tightwads, or RTN's (Room Temperature Nerds) who don't have a clue and never will. But wait! Today comes exciting news about the valuable properties and use of zirconia that will warm the cockles of the every tightwad and RTN out there. Engineers at Ohio State University are using zirconium dioxide (the ceramic from which we get synthetic diamonds) to protect jet engines from high-temperature corrosion. The fan blades in modern aircraft engines are coated with a protective ceramic to keep them from overheating. When the metal heats up, it expands, and the ceramic coating expands with it. But when grains of sand are inevitably sucked in and contact the many thousand-degree blades, they melt and make glass. The glass not only breaks down the coating when hot, but when it cools, it forms an inelastic layer on top of the protective coating. When the blades heat up again, the glass doesn't expand and breaks off the ceramic, shortening the life of the engine. Planes Drawing Sand into Engine at Takeoff: Photo by Department of Defense On the right, the zirconium coating protects from the molten glass. The left, with its conventional coating, is easily damaged. The promise of the zirconia lies in its ability to force the glass to bond with other elements in the coating, changing it into a stable crystal. It in effect turns the glass into an additional layer of protective ceramic every time new sand contacts the blades and melts. But unlike the CZ you put into your Gal's engagement ring, this zirconium application doesn't come cheap. It's a cost-intensive process to manufacture and has yet to be tested on complex shapes. But even in its early stages, it promises to be a boon for efficiency not just in aircraft engines, but ultimately for automobiles and all types of heat-producing engines as well. So for all of you CZ guys out there, you can start struttin like a Peacock and begin to feel that Mojo.