Pyrophoric Definition & Meaning

Origin of Pyrophoric

From pyrophorus substance that ignites spontaneously from Greek purophoros fire-bearing puro- pyro- -phoros -phorous

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Ancient Greek πυροφόρος (purophoros, “fire-bearing") +"Ž -ic.

From Wiktionary

By electrolysis it yields uranium dioxide as a pyrophoric powder, and peruranic hydroxide, U04.2H20, when treated with hydrogen peroxide.
The perfectly pure metal may be prepared by heating the oxide or oxalate in a current of hydrogen; when obtained at a low temperature it is a black powder which oxidizes in air with incandescence; produced at higher temperatures the metal is not pyrophoric. Peligot obtained it as minute tetragonal octahedra and cubes by reducing ferrous chloride in hydrogen.
Ferrous oxide is obtained when ferric oxide is reduced in hydrogen at 300 as a black pyrophoric powder.
Operating Precautions A COSHH Special Assessment must be carried out before using pyrophoric material.
When obtained by reduction processes at as low a temperature as possible the finely divided metal so formed is pyrophoric, and according to P. Schutzenberger (Comptes rendus, 1891,113, p. 177) dry hydrochloric acid gas converts this form into nickel chloride and a volatile compound of composition NiHC1.

Find similar words to pyrophoric using the buttons below.