Caesium nitrate
Encyclopedia
Caesium nitrate is a chemical compound
with the chemical formula
Cs
N
O
3. It is used in pyrotechnic composition
s, as a colorant
and an oxidizer, e.g. in decoys and illumination flare
s. The caesium emissions are chiefly due to two powerful spectral line
s at 852.113 nm and 894.347 nm.
Caesium nitrate prisms are used in infrared spectroscopy
, in x-ray
phosphor
s, and in scintillation counter
s. It is also used in making optical glasses and lenses.
As with other alkali metal nitrates, caesium nitrate decomposes on gentle heating to give caesium nitrite:
Caesium also forms two unusual acid nitrates
, which can be described as CsNO3·HNO3 and CsNO3·2HNO3 (melting points 100 ºC and 36–38 ºC respectively).
Chemical compound
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
with the chemical formula
Chemical formula
A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....
Cs
Caesium
Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...
N
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
O
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
3. It is used in pyrotechnic composition
Pyrotechnic composition
A pyrotechnic composition is a substance or mixture of substances designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas or smoke or a combination of these, as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions...
s, as a colorant
Pyrotechnic colorant
A pyrotechnic colorant is a chemical compound which causes a flame to burn with a particular color. These are used to create the colors in pyrotechnic compositions like fireworks and colored fires. The color-producing species are usually created from other chemicals during the reaction. Metal salts...
and an oxidizer, e.g. in decoys and illumination flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
s. The caesium emissions are chiefly due to two powerful spectral line
Spectral line
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from a deficiency or excess of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies.- Types of line spectra :...
s at 852.113 nm and 894.347 nm.
Caesium nitrate prisms are used in infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy is the spectroscopy that deals with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is light with a longer wavelength and lower frequency than visible light. It covers a range of techniques, mostly based on absorption spectroscopy. As with all spectroscopic...
, in x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
phosphor
Phosphor
A phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...
s, and in scintillation counter
Scintillation counter
A scintillation counter measures ionizing radiation. The sensor, called a scintillator, consists of a transparent crystal, usually phosphor, plastic , or organic liquid that fluoresces when struck by ionizing radiation. A sensitive photomultiplier tube measures the light from the crystal...
s. It is also used in making optical glasses and lenses.
As with other alkali metal nitrates, caesium nitrate decomposes on gentle heating to give caesium nitrite:
- 2CsNO3 → 2CsNO2 + O2
Caesium also forms two unusual acid nitrates
Acid salt
Acid salt is a somewhat obscure term for a class of salts formed by the partial neutralization of diprotic or polyprotic acids. Because the parent acid is only partially neutralized, one or more replaceable hydrogen atoms remain. Typical acid salts have one or more alkali metal ions as well as one...
, which can be described as CsNO3·HNO3 and CsNO3·2HNO3 (melting points 100 ºC and 36–38 ºC respectively).