Why does ZnO turn yellow when heated?

Is there a chemical name for the residue after zinc oxide has been burned?
Karen Hicks

ZnO doesn't burn. According to Cotton & Wilkinson's Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, "zinc oxide is normally white but turns yellow on heating... these colors result from various types of lattice defects. (The) oxide sublimes without decomposition at very high temperatures."

Author: Fred Senese senese@antoine.frostburg.edu



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