K absorption edge of zirconium in some of its compounds

Using a 1m radius bent crystal spectrograph, the X-ray K absorption edge of zirconium in zirconium metal, zirconium oxide, zirconium tetrachloride and in zirconium oxychloride has been studied. In all the compounds investigated, it has been observed that the absorption discontinuity shifts towards the high energy side with respect to the pure metal. The shift which is due to the change in the distribution of the valence electrons is a maximum in the case of zirconium nitrate. The relative magnitude of the shifts in the compounds studied are tentatively explained on the basis of considerations involving electronegativity and interatomic distances.