Caesium nitrate or cesium nitrate is a salt with the chemical formula CsNO3. An alkali metal nitrate, it is used in pyrotechnic compositions, as a colorant and an oxidizer, e.g. in decoys and illumination flares. The caesium emissions are chiefly due to two powerful spectral lines at 852.113 nm and 894.347 nm.[citation needed]
Caesium nitrate prisms are used in infrared spectroscopy, in x-ray phosphors, and in scintillation counters.[3] 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:
- 2 CsNO3 → 2 CsNO2 + O2
Caesium also forms two unusual acid nitrates, which can be described as CsNO3·HNO3 and CsNO3·2HNO3 (melting points 100 °C and 36–38 °C respectively).[1]
References
- ^ a b Weast, Robert C., ed. (1981). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (62nd ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. B-92. ISBN 0-8493-0462-8..
- ^ N Iu Tarasenko; E P Lemeshevskaia (1978). "Deĭstvie soedineniĭ tseziia na organizm [Effect of cesium compounds on the body]". Vestn Akad Med Nauk SSSR (in Russian). PMID 695884.
- ^ Budavari, Susan, ed. (2001). The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals (13th ed.). Merck. p. 345. ISBN 0911910131..
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