Titanium is a
chemical elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons.Common examples of elements...
with the symbol
Ti and
atomic numberIn chemistry and physics, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom and therefore identical to the charge number of the nucleus. It is conventionally represented by the symbol Z. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element...
22. Sometimes called the “space age metal”, it has a low density and is a strong, lustrous,
corrosionCorrosion is the disintegration of a material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of electrons of metals reacting with water and oxygen. Weakening of iron due to oxidation of the iron atoms is a...
-resistant (including sea water,
aqua regiaAqua regia or aqua regis is a highly corrosive, fuming yellow or red solution, also called nitro-hydrochloric acid. The mixture is formed by freshly mixing concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid, usually in a volumetric ratio of 1:3 respectively...
and
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
)
transition metalThe term transition metal has two possible meanings:*In the past it referred to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, which includes groups 3 to 12 on the periodic table...
with a silver color.
Titanium can be
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
ed with
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
,
aluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
,
vanadiumVanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. Andrés Manuel del Río discovered vanadium in 1801 by analyzing the mineral vanadinite, and named it...
,
molybdenumMolybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The free element, which is a silvery metal, has the sixth-highest melting point of any element. It readily forms hard, stable carbides, and for this reason it is often used in high-strength steel alloys...
, among other elements, to produce strong lightweight alloys for aerospace (
jet engineA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets and pump-jets...
s,
missileA missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used...
s, and
spacecraftA spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as...
), military, industrial process (chemicals and petro-chemicals, desalination plants, pulp, and paper), automotive, agri-food, medical prostheses, orthopedic
implantsAn implant is a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure, or enhance and existing biological structure. Medical implants are man-made devices, in contrast to a transplant, which is a transplanted biomedical tissue...
, dental and endodontic instruments and files,
dental implantA dental implant is an artificial tooth root replacement and is used in prosthetic dentistry to support restorations that resemble a tooth or group of teeth. There are several types of dental implants. The major classifications are divided into osseointegrated implant and the fibrointegrated implant...
s, sporting goods, jewelry, mobile phones, and other applications. Titanium was discovered in England by
William GregorWilliam Gregor was the British clergyman and mineralogist who discovered the elemental metal titanium.-Early years:...
in 1791 and named by
Martin Heinrich KlaprothMartin Heinrich Klaproth was a German chemist.Klaproth was born in Wernigerode. During a large portion of his life he followed the profession of an apothecary...
for the
TitansIn Greek mythology, the Titans , were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age...
of
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
.
The element occurs within a number of mineral deposits, principally
rutileRutile is a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide, TiO
2.Rutile is the most common natural form of TiO
2. Two rarer polymorphs of TiO
2 are known:...
and
ilmeniteIlmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....
, which are widely distributed in the
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
's crust and
lithosphereThe lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet.- Earth's lithosphere :...
, and it is found in almost all living things, rocks, water bodies, and soils. The metal is extracted from its principal mineral ores via the
Kroll processThe Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium. It was invented by William J. Kroll in Luxembourg. After moving to the United States, Kroll further developed the method for the production of zirconium...
or the
Hunter processThe Hunter process was the first industrial process to produce pure ductile metallic titanium. It was invented in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter, a chemist born in New Zealand and who worked in America....
. Its most common compound,
titanium dioxideTitanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO
2. When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891...
, is used in the manufacture of white pigments. Other compounds include
titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
(TiCl
4) (used in smoke screens/
skywritingSkywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground...
and as a catalyst) and titanium trichloride (TiCl
3) (used as a catalyst in the production of
polypropylenePolypropylene or polypropene is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and...
).
The two most useful properties of the metal form are corrosion resistance and the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. In its unalloyed condition, titanium is as strong as some
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
s, but 45% lighter. There are two
allotropicAllotropy or allotropism is a behavior exhibited by certain chemical elements: these elements can exist in two or more different forms, known as allotropes of that element. In each allotrope, the element's atoms are bonded together in a different manner...
forms and five naturally occurring
isotopeIsotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. Correspondingly, isotopes differ in mass number but not in atomic number. The difference in the number of nucleons comes from a difference how many neutrons are in the atomic nucleus...
s of this element;
46Ti through
50Ti, with
48Ti being the most
abundantIn chemistry, natural abundance refers to the abundance isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table...
(73.8%). Titanium's properties are chemically and physically similar to
zirconiumZirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium. Zirconium is used as an alloying agent due to its high resistance to corrosion. It is never found as a native metal; it is obtained mainly from...
.
Physical
A
metalA metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat, forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions...
lic
elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons.Common examples of elements...
, titanium is recognized for its high strength-to-weight ratio. It is a strong metal with low
densityThe density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is ρ .- Formula :Mathematically:where: is the density, is the mass, is the volume....
that is quite
ductileDuctility is a mechanical property used to describe the extent to which materials can be deformed plastically without fracture.In materials science, ductility specifically refers to a material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be...
(especially in an
oxygenOxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...
-free environment), lustrous, and metallic-white in
colorColor or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
. The relatively high melting point (over 1,649 °C or 3,000 °F) makes it useful as a refractory metal.
Commercial (99.2% pure) grades of titanium have ultimate tensile strength of about 63,000 psi (434 MPa), equal to that of common, low-grade steel alloys, but are 45% lighter. Titanium is 60% more dense than aluminium, but more than twice as strong as the most commonly used 6061-T6 aluminium alloy. Certain titanium alloys (e.g., Beta C) achieve tensile strengths of over .
However, titanium loses strength when heated above .
It is fairly hard although not as hard as some grades of heat-treated steel, non-magnetic and a poor conductor of heat and electricity. Machining requires precautions, as the material will soften and
gallGalling, according to ASTM standard G40 , is: “a form of surface damage arising between sliding solids, distinguished by microscopic, usually localized, roughening and creation of protrusions above the original surface”...
if sharp tools and proper cooling methods are not used. Like those made from steel, titanium structures have a
fatigue limitFatigue limit, endurance limit, and fatigue strength are all expressions used to describe a property of materials: the amplitude of cyclic stress that can be applied to the material without causing fatigue failure. Ferrous alloys and titanium alloys have a distinct limit, an amplitude below which...
which guarantees longevity in some applications.
The metal is a dimorphic
allotropeAllotropy or allotropism is a behavior exhibited by certain chemical elements: these elements can exist in two or more different forms, known as allotropes of that element. In each allotrope, the element's atoms are bonded together in a different manner...
with the hexagonal alpha form changing into the body-centered cubic (lattice) β form at . The
specific heatSpecific heat capacity, often shortened to specific heat, is the measure of the heat energy required to increase the temperature of a of a substance by unit degree. The term originated primarily through the work of 18th-century physicist Joseph Black who conducted various heat measurements and...
of the alpha form increases dramatically as it is heated to this transition temperature but then falls and remains fairly constant for the β form regardless of temperature. Similar to zirconium and hafnium, an additional omega phase exists, which is thermodynamically stable at high pressures, but is metastable at ambient pressures. This phase is usually hexagonal (
ideal) or trigonal (
distorted) and can be viewed as being due to a soft longitudinal acoustic
phononIn physics, a phonon is a quantized mode of vibration occurring in a rigid crystal lattice, such as the atomic lattice of a solid. The study of phonons is an important part of solid state physics, because phonons play a major role in many of the physical properties of solids, including a material's...
of the β phase causing collapse of (111) planes of atoms.
Chemical
The most noted chemical property of titanium is its excellent resistance to corrosion; it is almost as resistant as
platinumPlatinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is in Group 10 of the periodic table of elements...
, capable of withstanding attack by acids, moist chlorine in water but is soluble in concentrated acids.
While the following
Pourbaix diagramIn chemistry, a Pourbaix diagram, also known as a potential/pH diagram, maps out possible stable phases of an aqueous electrochemical system. Predominant ion boundaries are represented by lines...
shows that titanium is thermodynamically a very reactive metal, it is slow to react with water and air.
This metal forms a
passivePassivation is the process of making a material "passive" in relation to another material prior to using the materials together. For example, prior to storing hydrogen peroxide in an aluminium container, the container can be passivated by rinsing it with a dilute solution of nitric acid and...
and protective oxide coating (leading to increased corrosion-resistance) when exposed to elevated temperatures in air, but at room temperatures it resists tarnishing. When it first forms, this protective layer is only 1–2
nmA nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a meter....
thick but continues to slowly grow; reaching a thickness of 25 nm in four years.
Titanium burns in air when heated to and in pure oxygen when heated to or higher, forming titanium dioxide. As a result, the metal cannot be melted in open air as it burns before the melting point is reached, so melting is only possible in an inert atmosphere or in vacuum. It is also one of the few elements that burns in pure nitrogen gas (it burns at 800 °C or 1,472 °F and forms
titanium nitrideTitanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties....
, which causes embrittlement). Titanium is resistant to dilute
sulfuric acidSulfuric acid, , is a strong mineral acid. It is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sulfuric acid has many applications, and is one of the top products of the chemical industry. World production in 2001 was 165 million tonnes, with an approximate value of US$8 billion...
and
hydrochloric acidHydrochloric acid is the solution of hydrogen chloride in water. It is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid and has major industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
, along with chlorine gas, chloride solutions, and most organic acids. It is
paramagneticParamagnetism is a form of magnetism which occurs only in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field. Paramagnetic materials are attracted to magnetic fields, hence have a relative magnetic permeability of ≥1 .The magnetic moment induced by the applied field is linear in the field...
(weakly attracted to magnets) and has fairly low electrical and thermal conductivity.
Experiments have shown that natural titanium becomes radioactive after it is bombarded with deuterons, emitting mainly positrons and hard gamma rays. When it is red hot the metal combines with oxygen, and when it reaches it combines with chlorine. It also reacts with the other halogens and absorbs hydrogen.
Compounds
The +4
oxidation stateIn chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. The formal oxidation state is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all bonds to atoms of different elements were 100% ionic. Oxidation states are typically represented by...
dominates in titanium chemistry, but compounds in the +3
oxidation stateIn chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. The formal oxidation state is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all bonds to atoms of different elements were 100% ionic. Oxidation states are typically represented by...
are also common. Because of this high oxidation state, many titanium compounds have a high degree of
covalent bondA covalent bond is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms, or between atoms and other covalent bonds...
ing.
Star sapphires and
rubiesA ruby is a pink to blood-red gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
get their
asterismIn gemmology, an asterism is an optical phenomenon displayed by some rubies, sapphires, and other gems of an enhanced reflective area in the shape of a "star" on the surface of a cabochon cut from the stone...
from the titanium dioxide impurities present in them. Titanates are compounds made with titanium dioxide.
Barium titanateBarium titanate is an oxide of barium and titanium with the chemical formula BaTiO
3. It is a ferroelectric ceramic material, with a photorefractive effect and piezoelectric properties. It has five phases as a solid, listing from high temperature to low temperature: hexagonal, cubic,...
has piezoelectric properties, thus making it possible to use it as a transducer in the interconversion of
soundSound is a travelling wave which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.- Perception of sound...
and
electricityElectricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge...
.
EsterEsters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...
s of titanium are formed by the reaction of
alcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. An important group of acohols is formed by the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is C
nH
2n+1OH...
s and titanium tetrachloride and are used to waterproof fabrics.
Titanium nitrideTitanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties....
(TiN) is often used to coat cutting tools, such as
drill bitDrill bits are cutting tools used to create cylindrical holes. Bits are held in a tool called a drill, which rotates them and provides torque and axial force to create the hole. Specialized bits are also available for non-cylindrical-shaped holes....
s. It also finds use as a gold-colored decorative finish, and as a barrier metal in
semiconductor fabricationSemiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create chips, the integrated circuits that are present in everyday electrical and electronic devices...
.
Titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
(titanium(IV) chloride, TiCl
4, sometimes called "Tickle") is a colorless liquid which is used as an intermediate in the manufacture of titanium dioxide for paint. It is widely used in
organic chemistryOrganic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry which involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of chemical compounds that contain carbon...
as a
Lewis acidA Lewis acid, A, is a chemical compound that can accept a pair of electrons from a Lewis base, B, that acts as an electron-pair donor, forming an adduct, AB:
A + :B → A—B...
, for example in the Mukaiyama aldol condensation. Titanium also forms a lower chloride,
titanium(III) chlorideTitanium chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl3. At least four distinct species have this formula; additionally hydrated derivatives are known...
(TiCl
3), which is used as a
reducing agentA reducing agent is the element or compound in a redox reaction that reduces another species. In doing so, it becomes oxidized, and is therefore the electron donor in the redox...
.
Titanocene dichlorideTitanocene dichloride, or dicyclopentadienyl titanium dichloride is 2TiCl2 ; this metallocene is widely used in organometallic and organic synthesis both as a reagent and as a catalyst...
is an important catalyst for carbon-carbon bond formation.
Titanium isopropoxideTitanium isopropoxide is a chemical compound with the formula Ti{OCH2}4. This alkoxide of titanium is used in organic synthesis and materials science....
is used for
Sharpless epoxidationThe Sharpless epoxidation reaction is an enantioselective chemical reaction to prepare 2,3-epoxyalcohols from primary and secondary allylic alcohols. The stereochemistry of the resulting epoxide is determined by the diastereomer of diethyl tartrate employed in the reaction rather than the...
. Other compounds include titanium bromide (used in metallurgy,
superalloyA superalloy, or high-performance alloy, is an alloy that exhibits excellent mechanical strength and creep resistance at high temperatures, good surface stability, and corrosion and oxidation resistance. Superalloys typically have a matrix with an austenitic face-centered cubic crystal structure. ...
s, and high-temperature electrical wiring and coatings) and
titanium carbideTitanium carbide, TiC, is an extremely hard refractory metallic material, similar to tungsten carbide.It is commercially used in tool bits. It has the appearance of black powder with NaCl-type face centered cubic crystal structure...
(found in high-temperature cutting tools and coatings).
Occurrence
Titanium is always bonded to other elements in nature. It is the ninth-most abundant element in the
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
's crust (0.63% by
massIn physics, mass commonly refers to any of three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent: inertial mass, active gravitational mass and passive gravitational mass...
) and the seventh-most abundant metal. It is present in most
igneous rockIgneous rock is one of the three main rock types . Igneous rock is formed by magma being cooled and becoming solid. They may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks...
s and in
sedimentsSedimentary rock is the type of rock that is formed by sedimentation of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
derived from them (as well as in living things and natural bodies of water). Of the 801 types of igneous rocks analyzed by the
United States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning...
, 784 contained titanium. Its proportion in soils is approximately 0.5 to 1.5%.
It is widely distributed and occurs primarily in the
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s
anataseAnatase is one of the three mineral forms of titanium dioxide, the other two being brookite and rutile. It is always found as small, isolated and sharply developed crystals, and like rutile, a more commonly occurring modification of titanium dioxide, it crystallizes in the tetragonal system; but,...
,
brookiteBrookite is a mineral consisting of titanium oxide, TiO2, and hence identical with rutile and anatase in composition, but crystallizing in the orthorhombic system...
,
ilmeniteIlmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....
,
perovskiteA perovskite structure is any material with the same type of crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide , known as the perovskite structure, or
XIIA
2+VIIB
4+X
2-3 with the oxygen in a fcc...
,
rutileRutile is a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide, TiO
2.Rutile is the most common natural form of TiO
2. Two rarer polymorphs of TiO
2 are known:...
,
titaniteTitanite, or sphene , is a calcium titanium nesosilicate mineral, CaTiSiO5. Trace impurities of iron and aluminium are typically present...
(sphene), as well in many
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
ores. Of these minerals, only rutile and ilmenite have any economic importance, yet even they are difficult to find in high concentrations. Significant titanium-bearing ilmenite deposits exist in western
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, and
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
. Large quantities of rutile are also mined in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
and help contribute to the annual production of 90,000
tonneA tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to , or approximately the mass of one cubic metre of water. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of the metal and 4.3 million tonnes of titanium dioxide. Total reserves of titanium are estimated to exceed 600 million tonnes.
Titanium is contained in
meteoriteA meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives an impact with the Earth's surface. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
s and has been detected in the
sunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 99.86% of the Solar System's mass....
and in
M-typeIn astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on its spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star, is a designation of a class to a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective...
starA star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma that is held together by gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth. Other stars are visible in the night sky, when they are not outshone by the Sun...
s; the coolest type of star with a surface temperature of .
RocksIn geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
brought back from the
moonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
during the
Apollo 17Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. It was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program. The mission was launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, and concluded on December 19. It...
mission are composed of 12.1% TiO
2. It is also found in
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
ash,
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s, and even the
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
body.
Isotopes
Naturally occurring titanium is composed of 5 stable
isotopeIsotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. Correspondingly, isotopes differ in mass number but not in atomic number. The difference in the number of nucleons comes from a difference how many neutrons are in the atomic nucleus...
s:
46Ti,
47Ti,
48Ti,
49Ti, and
50Ti, with
48Ti being the most abundant (73.8%
natural abundanceIn chemistry, natural abundance refers to the abundance isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table...
). Eleven radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being
44Ti with a
half-lifeHalf-life is the period of time, for a substance undergoing decay, to decrease by half. The name originally was used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms , but may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate decay....
of 63 years,
45Ti with a half-life of 184.8 minutes,
51Ti with a half-life of 5.76 minutes, and
52Ti with a half-life of 1.7 minutes. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 33 seconds and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than half a second.
The isotopes of titanium range in
atomic weightAtomic weight is a dimensionless physical quantity, the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12...
from 39.99 u (
40Ti) to 57.966 u (
58Ti). The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope,
48Ti, is
electron captureElectron capture is a decay mode for isotopes that will occur when there are too many protons in the nucleus of an atom and insufficient energy to emit a positron; however, it continues to be a viable decay mode for radioactive isotopes that can decay by positron emission...
and the primary mode after is beta emission. The primary
decay productIn nuclear physics, a decay product is a nuclide produced by radioactive decay. Radioactive decay often involves a sequence of steps...
s before
48Ti are element 21 (
scandiumScandium is a chemical element with symbol Sc and atomic number 21. A silvery-white metallic transition metal, it has historically been sometimes classified as a rare earth element, together with yttrium and the lanthanides...
) isotopes and the primary products after are element 23 (
vanadiumVanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. Andrés Manuel del Río discovered vanadium in 1801 by analyzing the mineral vanadinite, and named it...
) isotopes.
History
Titanium was discovered
includedIn mineralogy, an inclusion is any material that is trapped inside a mineral during its formation.In gemology, an inclusion is a characteristic enclosed within a gemstone, or reaching its surface from the interior....
in a
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
in
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1791 by amateur geologist and pastor
William GregorWilliam Gregor was the British clergyman and mineralogist who discovered the elemental metal titanium.-Early years:...
, then vicar of
CreedCreed is a village in the civil parish of Grampound with Creed, Cornwall, United Kingdom.The name derives from Sancta Crida, from Saint Cride, the patron of the church....
parish. He recognized the presence of a new element in ilmenite when he found black sand by a stream in the nearby
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
of
ManaccanManaccan is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Manaccan Parish borders the Helford River which is a drowned river valley or ria. The Helford River enters the sea at the eastern end of the Lizard Peninsula and is therefore protected when westerly gales hit this part of...
and noticed the sand was attracted by a
magnetA magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object made from a...
. Analysis of the sand determined the presence of two metal oxides;
iron oxideIron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Altogether, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.-Oxides:* FeO, iron oxide, * Fe3O4, iron oxide,...
(explaining the attraction to the magnet) and 45.25% of a white metallic oxide he could not identify. Gregor, realizing that the unidentified oxide contained a metal that did not match the properties of any known element, reported his findings to the
Royal Geological Society of CornwallThe Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world....
and in the German science journal
Crell's AnnalenCrell's Annalen is a German chemistry journal. Its original name is Chemische Annalen für die Freunde der Naturlehre, Arzneygelahrtheit, Haushaltungskunst und Manufacturen, usually shortened to Chemische Annalen and often referred to as Crell's Annalen after the editor Lorenz Florenz Friedrich von...
.
Around the same time,
Franz-Joseph Müller von ReichensteinFranz-Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein or Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein was a Hungarian mineralogist who discovered tellurium in 1782....
produced a similar substance, but could not identify it. The oxide was independently rediscovered in 1795 by
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
chemist
Martin Heinrich KlaprothMartin Heinrich Klaproth was a German chemist.Klaproth was born in Wernigerode. During a large portion of his life he followed the profession of an apothecary...
in rutile from
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
. Klaproth found that it contained a new element and named it for the
TitansIn Greek mythology, the Titans , were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age...
of
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. After hearing about Gregor's earlier discovery, he obtained a sample of
manaccanite and confirmed it contained titanium.
The processes required to extract titanium from its various ores are laborious and costly; it is not possible to reduce in the normal manner, by heating in the presence of
carbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
, because that produces
titanium carbideTitanium carbide, TiC, is an extremely hard refractory metallic material, similar to tungsten carbide.It is commercially used in tool bits. It has the appearance of black powder with NaCl-type face centered cubic crystal structure...
. Pure metallic titanium (99.9%) was first prepared in 1910 by
Matthew A. HunterMatthew Albert Hunter was a metallurgist and inventor of the Hunter process for producing titanium metal.Hunter was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1878 and received his early education in local public schools...
at
Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteRensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a private research university located in Troy, New York, United States.RPI was founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer for the "application of science to the common purposes of life", and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking...
by heating TiCl
4 with
sodiumSodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...
at 700–800 °C in the
Hunter processThe Hunter process was the first industrial process to produce pure ductile metallic titanium. It was invented in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter, a chemist born in New Zealand and who worked in America....
. Titanium metal was not used outside the laboratory until 1932 when William Justin Kroll proved that it could be produced by reducing
titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
(TiCl
4) with
calciumCalcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
. Eight years later he refined this process by using
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
and even
sodiumSodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...
in what became known as the
Kroll processThe Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium. It was invented by William J. Kroll in Luxembourg. After moving to the United States, Kroll further developed the method for the production of zirconium...
. Although research continues into more efficient and cheaper processes (e.g., FFC Cambridge), the Kroll process is still used for commercial production.
Titanium of very high purity was made in small quantities when
Anton Eduard van ArkelAnton Eduard van Arkel, was a Dutch chemist.-References:*H.A.M. Snelders, , in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland....
and
Jan Hendrik de BoerJan Hendrik de Boer was a Dutch physicist and chemist.De Boer was born in Ruinen, now De Wolden, and died in 's-Gravenzande. He studied at the University of Groningen and was later employed in industry....
discovered the iodide, or
crystal barThe crystal bar process was developed by Anton Eduard van Arkel and Jan Hendrik de Boer in 1925. This process was the first industrial process for the commercial production of pure ductile metallic zirconium. It is used in the production of small quantities of ultra-pure titanium and zirconium...
, process in 1925, by reacting with iodine and decomposing the formed vapors over a hot filament to pure metal.
In the 1950s and 1960s the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
pioneered the use of titanium in military and submarine applications (
Alfa ClassThe Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 was a submarine class of hunter/killer nuclear powered vessels . The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa...
and
Mike ClassK-278 Komsomolets was the only Project 685 Плавник nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Soviet Navy...
) as part of programs related to the Cold War. Starting in the early 1950s, titanium began to be used extensively for military aviation purposes, particularly in high-performance jets, starting with aircraft such as the
F100 Super SabreThe North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. As the first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was capable of supersonic speed in level flight...
and Lockheed A-12.
In the USA, the
Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
realized the strategic importance of the metal and supported early efforts of commercialization.
Throughout the period of the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
, titanium was considered a Strategic Material by the U.S. government, and a large stockpile of titanium sponge was maintained by the
Defense National Stockpile CenterThe Defense National Stockpile Center is a branch of the Defense Logistics Agency whose purpose it is to store, secure, and sell raw materials. The DNSC is based in Fort Belvoir and has operations throughout the United States...
, which was finally depleted in 2005. Today, the world's largest producer, Russian-based
VSMPO-AvismaVSMPO-AVISMA Corporation , where VSMPO stands for Verkhnesaldinskoye metallurgicheskoye proizvodstvennoye ob'yedineniye , is the world's largest titanium producer. Located in Yekaterinburg, Russia, VSMPO-AVISMA also operates facilities in Ukraine, England, Switzerland, Germany and the United States...
, is estimated to account for about 29% of the world market share.
In 2006, the U.S. Defense Agency awarded $5.7 million to a two-company consortium to develop a new process for making titanium metal
powderPowder metallurgy is a forming and fabrication technique consisting of three major processing stages. First, the primary material is physically powdered, divided into many small individual particles...
. Under heat and pressure, the powder can be used to create strong, lightweight items ranging from armor plating to components for the aerospace, transportation, and chemical processing industries.
Production and fabrication
The processing of titanium metal occurs in 4 major steps: reduction of titanium ore into "sponge", a porous form; melting of sponge, or sponge plus a master alloy to form an ingot; primary fabrication, where an ingot is converted into general mill products such as billet, bar, plate, sheet, strip, and tube; and secondary fabrication of finished shapes from mill products.
Because the metal reacts with oxygen at high temperatures it cannot be produced by reduction of its dioxide. Titanium metal is therefore produced commercially by the
Kroll processThe Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium. It was invented by William J. Kroll in Luxembourg. After moving to the United States, Kroll further developed the method for the production of zirconium...
, a complex and expensive
batch processBatch production is the manufacturing technique of creating a component at a workstation before moving to the next step in production. Batch production is common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients , inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture of inks...
. (The relatively high market value of titanium is mainly due to its processing, which sacrifices another expensive metal, magnesium.) In the Kroll process, the oxide is first converted to chloride through carbochlorination, whereby
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
gas is passed over red-hot rutile or ilmenite in the presence of carbon to make
TiCl4Titanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
. This is condensed and purified by
fractional distillationFractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions, such as in separating chemical compounds by their boiling point by heating them to a temperature at which several fractions of the compound will evaporate. It is a special type of distillation...
and then reduced with 800 °C molten
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
in an
argonArgon is a chemical element designated by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is present in the Earth's atmosphere at 0.94%. Terrestrially, it is the most abundant and most frequently used of the noble gases...
atmosphere.
A more recently developed method, the
FFC Cambridge processThe FFC Cambridge Process is an electrochemical method in which solid metal compounds, particularly oxides, are cathodically reduced to the respective metals or alloys in molten salts.-History:...
, may eventually replace the Kroll process. This method uses titanium dioxide powder (which is a refined form of rutile) as feedstock to make the end product which is either a powder or sponge. If mixed oxide powders are used, the product is an alloy manufactured at a much lower cost than the conventional multi-step melting process. The FFC Cambridge process may render titanium a less rare and expensive material for the
aerospaceAerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
industry and the luxury goods market, and could be seen in many products currently manufactured using aluminium and specialist grades of steel.
Common titanium
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
s are made by reduction. For example, cuprotitanium (rutile with
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
added is reduced), ferrocarbon titanium (ilmenite reduced with
cokeCoke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous.-Production:Coke is usually produced from coal; the process is called coking....
in an electric furnace), and manganotitanium (rutile with manganese or manganese oxides) are reduced.
- 2 FeTiO3 + 7 Cl2 + 6 C → 2 TiCl4 + 2 FeCl3 + 6 CO (900 °C)
- TiCl4 + 2 Mg → 2 MgCl2 + Ti (1100 °C)
About 50 grades of titanium and titanium alloys are designated and currently used, although only a couple of dozen are readily available commercially. The
ASTM InternationalASTM International , originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services...
recognizes 31 Grades of titanium metal and alloys, of which Grades 1 through 4 are commercially pure (unalloyed). These four are distinguished by their varying degrees of tensile strength, as a function of
oxygenOxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...
content, with Grade 1 being the most ductile (lowest tensile strength with an oxygen content of 0.18%), and Grade 4 the least (highest tensile strength with an oxygen content of 0.40%). The remaining grades are alloys, each designed for specific purposes, be it ductility, strength, hardness, electrical resistivity,
creepCreep is the tendency of a solid material to slowly move or deform permanently under the influence of stresses. It occurs as a result of long term exposure to levels of stress that are below the yield strength of the material....
resistance, resistance to corrosion from specific media, or a combination thereof.
The grades covered by ASTM and other alloys are also produced to meet Aerospace and Military specifications (SAE-AMS, MIL-T), ISO standards, and country-specific specifications, as well as proprietary end-user specifications for aerospace, military, medical, and industrial applications.
In terms of fabrication, all
weldingWelding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
of titanium must be done in an inert atmosphere of
argonArgon is a chemical element designated by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is present in the Earth's atmosphere at 0.94%. Terrestrially, it is the most abundant and most frequently used of the noble gases...
or
heliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2, and is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
in order to shield it from contamination with atmospheric gases such as oxygen,
nitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.Many industrially important...
, or
hydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H
2...
. Contamination will cause a variety of conditions, such as embrittlement, which will reduce the integrity of the assembly welds and lead to joint failure.
Commercially pure flat product (sheet, plate) can be formed readily, but processing must take into account the fact that the metal has a "memory" and tends to spring back. This is especially true of certain high-strength alloys. The metal can be machined using the same equipment and via the same processes as
stainless steelIn metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox, is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 11% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel...
.
Applications
Titanium is used in
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
as an alloying element (ferro-titanium) to reduce
grain sizeA crystallite is a domain of solid-state matter that has the same structure as a single crystal. Metallurgists often refer to crystallites as "grains"....
and as a deoxidizer, and in
stainless steelIn metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox, is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 11% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel...
to reduce carbon content. Titanium is often alloyed with aluminium (to refine grain size),
vanadiumVanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. Andrés Manuel del Río discovered vanadium in 1801 by analyzing the mineral vanadinite, and named it...
,
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
(to harden),
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
,
manganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
,
molybdenumMolybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The free element, which is a silvery metal, has the sixth-highest melting point of any element. It readily forms hard, stable carbides, and for this reason it is often used in high-strength steel alloys...
, and with other metals. Applications for titanium mill products (sheet, plate, bar, wire, forgings, castings) can be found in industrial, aerospace, recreational, and emerging markets. Powdered titanium is used in
pyrotechnicsPyrotechnics is the science of materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
as a source of bright-burning particles.
Pigments, additives and coatings
About 95% of titanium ore extracted from the Earth is destined for refinement into
titanium dioxideTitanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO
2. When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891...
, an intensely white permanent
pigmentA pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
used in
paintPaint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.-History:...
s,
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
,
toothpasteToothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it can aid in the removal of dental plaque and food from the teeth, aid in the elimination and/or masking of halitosis and deliver...
, and plastics. It is also used in
cementIn the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed...
, in
gemstoneA gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s, as an optical opacifier in
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, and a strengthening agent in graphite composite fishing rods and golf clubs.
powder is chemically inert, resists fading in sunlight, and is very opaque: this allows it to impart a pure and brilliant white color to the brown or gray chemicals that form the majority of household plastics. In nature, this compound is found in the
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s
anataseAnatase is one of the three mineral forms of titanium dioxide, the other two being brookite and rutile. It is always found as small, isolated and sharply developed crystals, and like rutile, a more commonly occurring modification of titanium dioxide, it crystallizes in the tetragonal system; but,...
,
brookiteBrookite is a mineral consisting of titanium oxide, TiO2, and hence identical with rutile and anatase in composition, but crystallizing in the orthorhombic system...
, and rutile.
Paint made with titanium dioxide does well in severe temperatures, is somewhat self-cleaning, and stands up to marine environments. Pure titanium dioxide has a very high
index of refractionThe refractive index of a medium is a measure of how much the speed of light is reduced inside the medium. For example, typical soda-lime glass has a refractive index close to 1.5, which means that in glass, light travels at 1 / 1.5 = 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum...
and an optical dispersion higher than
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
. In addition to being a very important pigment, titanium dioxide is also used in
sunscreenSunscreen is a lotion, spray, gel or other topical product that absorbs or reflects some of the sun's ultraviolet radiation on the skin exposed to sunlight and thus helps protect against sunburn....
s due to its ability to protect skin by itself.
Recently, it has been put to use in air purifiers (as a filter coating), or in film used to coat windows on buildings which when exposed to UV light (either solar or man-made) and moisture in the air produces reactive redox species like hydroxyl radicals that can purify the air or keep window surfaces clean.
Aerospace and marine
Due to their high
tensile strengthTensile strength is indicated by the maxima of a stress-strain curve and, in general, indicates when necking will occur. As it is an intensive property, its value does not depend on the size of the test specimen...
to density ratio, high corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand moderately high temperatures without
creepingCreep is the tendency of a solid material to slowly move or deform permanently under the influence of stresses. It occurs as a result of long term exposure to levels of stress that are below the yield strength of the material....
, titanium
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
s are used in
aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported...
, armor plating,
navalA navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
ships,
spacecraftA spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as...
, and
missileA missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used...
s. For these applications
titanium alloyTitanium alloys are metallic materials which contain a mixture of titanium and other chemical elements. Such alloys have very high tensile strength and toughness , light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures...
ed with aluminium, vanadium, and other elements is used for a variety of components including critical structural parts, fire walls,
landing gearLanding Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7 2008. It will be his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...
, exhaust ducts (helicopters), and hydraulic systems. In fact, about two thirds of all titanium metal produced is used in aircraft engines and frames. The
SR-71 "Blackbird"The Lockheed SR-71 is an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works as a Black project. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, and called the Habu by its crews, referring to an Okinawan...
was one of the first aircraft to make extensive use of titanium within its structure, paving the way for its use in modern military and commercial aircraft. An estimated 59 metric tons (130,000 pounds) are used in the
Boeing 777The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The world's largest twinjet and commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven", the aircraft can carry between 301 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a range from...
, 45 in the
Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a widebody commercial airliner, often referred to by the nickname "Jumbo Jet". It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first widebody ever produced...
, 18 in the
Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short to medium range, single aisle, narrow body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has nine variants with the -600, -700, -800 and -900 currently in production.Originally envisioned in...
, 32 in the
Airbus A340The Airbus A340 is a long-range four-engined wide-body commercial passenger airliner manufactured by Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It seats between 261 and 380 passengers, and has a range between 6,700 and 9,000 NM . It is similar in design to the twin-engined A330...
, 18 in the
Airbus A330The Airbus A330 is a large-capacity, wide-body, twin-engine, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner. Built at Toulouse in France by Airbus, over 600 units have been delivered....
, and 12 in the
Airbus A320The Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range commercial passenger airliners are manufactured by Airbus and are the only narrowbody in their product line...
. The
Airbus A380The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25...
may use 146 metric tons, including about 26 tons in the engines. In engine applications, titanium is used for rotors, compressor blades, hydraulic system components, and nacelles. The
titanium 6AL-4VTitanium 6AL-4V, or ASTM alloy standard Grade 5, is one of the most common and available types or grades of titanium alloys. It is the most widely used titanium alloy, e.g. for Aerospace, Medical, Marine, and Chemical Processing. Among its many advantages, it is heat treatable. This grade is an...
alloy accounts for almost 50% of all alloys used in aircraft applications.
Due to its high corrosion resistance to sea water, titanium is used to make propeller shafts and rigging and in the
heat exchangerA heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The media may be separated by a solid wall, so that they never mix, or they may be in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants,...
s of desalination plants; in heater-chillers for salt water
aquariumAn aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
s, fishing line and leader, and for divers' knives. Titanium is used to manufacture the housings and other components of ocean-deployed surveillance and monitoring devices for scientific and military use. The former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
developed techniques for making
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
s largely out of titanium, which became both the fastest and deepest diving submarines of their time.
Industrial
Welded titanium pipe and process equipment (heat exchangers, tanks, process vessels, valves) are used in the chemical and petrochemical industries primarily for corrosion resistance. Specific alloys are used in downhole and
nickelNickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. It is one of the four ferromagnetic elements at about room temperature, other three being iron, cobalt and gadolinium...
hydrometallurgyHydrometallurgy is part of the field of extractive metallurgy involving the use of aqueous chemistry for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual materials...
applications due to their high strength
titanium Beta C, corrosion resistance, or combination of both. The
pulp and paperPulp and Paper is the name of the largest United States-based trade magazine for the pulp and paper industry. See also: Paper engineering, Pulp and Paper Merit Badge...
industry uses titanium in process equipment exposed to corrosive media such as sodium hypochlorite or wet chlorine gas (in the bleachery). Other applications include:
ultrasonic weldingUltrasonic welding is an industrial technique whereby high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to workpieces being held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld. It is commonly used for plastics, and especially for joining dissimilar materials...
,
wave solderingWave soldering is a large-scale soldering process by which electronic components are soldered to a printed circuit board to form an electronic assembly. The name is derived from the use of waves of molten solder to attach metal components to the PCB...
, and
sputteringSputtering is a process whereby atoms are ejected from a solid target material due to bombardment of the target by energetic ions. It is commonly used for thin-film deposition, etching and analytical techniques .- Physics of sputtering :...
targets.
Titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
(TiCl
4), a colorless liquid, is important as an intermediate in the process of making TiO
2 and is also used to produce the Ziegler-Natta catalyst, and is used to iridize
glassIn general Glass refers to a solid, brittle, transparent material, commonly used for windows, bottles, or eyewear. Examples of glassy materials include, but are not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, or aluminium oxynitride. The term glass...
and because it fumes strongly in moist air it is also used to make smoke screens.
Consumer and architectural
Titanium metal is used in automotive applications, particularly in automobile or motorcycle racing, where weight reduction is critical while maintaining high strength and rigidity. The metal is generally too expensive to make it marketable to the general consumer market, other than high-end products, particularly for the racing/performance market. Late model
CorvettesThe Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car manufactured in six generations by General Motors since 1953. The first Corvette was designed by Harley Earl and named by Myron Scott after the fast ship of the same name. Originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, it is currently built at a...
have been available with titanium exhausts.
Titanium is used in many sporting goods: tennis rackets,
golf clubsGolf clubs are used in the sport of golf to hit a golf ball. Each club is composed of a shaft with a lance and a clubhead. Woods are used for long-distance fairway shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; putters are used mainly on the green to roll the ball into...
,
lacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin that is played using a small solid rubber ball and a long-handled racquet called a crosse or lacrosse stick. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose netting that is designed to hold the lacrosse ball...
stick shafts;
cricketCricket is a bat-and-ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being...
, hockey, lacrosse, and football helmet grills; and
bicycleA bicycle, also known as a bike, push bike or cycle, is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist....
frames and components. Although not a mainstream material for bicycle production, titanium bikes have been used by race teams and adventure cyclists. Titanium alloys are also used in
spectacleGlasses are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes, normally for vision correction, eye protection, or for protection from UV rays....
frames. This results in a rather expensive, but highly durable and long lasting frame which is light in weight and causes no skin allergies. Many
backpackersBackpacking combines hiking and camping in a single trip. A backpacker hikes into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carries supplies and equipment to satisfy sleeping and eating needs.-Definition:A backpacker packs all of his or her gear into a backpack...
use titanium equipment, including cookware, eating utensils, lanterns, and tent stakes. Though slightly more expensive than traditional steel or aluminium alternatives, these titanium products can be significantly lighter without compromising strength. Titanium is also favored for use by
farrierA farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of a horse's hoof and the placing of shoes to the horse's foot...
s, since it is lighter and more durable than steel when formed into
horseshoesHorseshoes is an outdoor atempt to levitate between two people using four horseshoes and two stakes. The game is played by the players alternating stretching out with the force, ie. one must be familiar with the ways of the force . you fly at stakes in the ground, which are traditionally placed 40...
.
Because of its durability, titanium has become more popular for designer jewelry. Its inertness makes it a good choice for those with allergies or those who will be wearing the jewelry in environments such as swimming pools. Titanium's durability, light weight, dent- and corrosion- resistance makes it useful in the production of
watchA watch is a timepiece that is made to be worn on a person. It is usually a wristwatch, worn on the wrist with a strap or bracelet. In addition to the time, modern watches often display the day, date, month and year, and electronic watches may have many other functions.Most inexpensive and...
cases. Some artists work with titanium to produce artworks such as sculptures, decorative objects and furniture.
Titanium has occasionally been used in architectural applications: the 40 m (120 foot) memorial to
Yuri GagarinYuri Alekseyevich Gagarin , Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth...
, the first man to travel in space, in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
, is made of titanium for the metal's attractive color and association with rocketry. The
Guggenheim Museum BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
and the
Cerritos Millennium LibraryThe Cerritos Library, the New Cerritos Library, or the Cerritos Public Library is the civic library for the City of Cerritos, California. It was rededicated on March 16, 2002 with the new moniker and the current futuristic design. It was the first building to feature an exterior clad with titanium...
were the first buildings in Europe and North America, respectively, to be sheathed in titanium panels. Other construction uses of titanium sheathing include the Frederic C. Hamilton Building in Denver,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
and the 107 m (350 foot)
Monument to the Conquerors of SpaceThe Monument "To the Conquerors of Space" was erected in Moscow in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration...
in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
.
Due to its superior strength and light weight when compared to other metals traditionally used in firearms (steel,
stainless steelIn metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox, is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 11% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel...
, and aluminium), and advances in metal-working techniques, the use of titanium has become more widespread in the manufacture of firearms. Primary uses include pistol frames and
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
cylinders. For these same reasons, it is also used in the body of laptop computers (for example, in Apple's PowerBook line).
Medical
Because it is biocompatible (non-toxic and is not rejected by the body), titanium is used in a gamut of medical applications including surgical implements and implants, such as hip balls and sockets (joint replacement) that can stay in place for up to 20 years. Titanium has the inherent property to
osseointegrateOsseointegration is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing artificial implant, typically made of titanium. It is a property virtually unique to titanium and hydroxylapatite, and has enhanced the science of medical bone, and joint...
, enabling use in dental implants that can remain in place for over 30 years. This property is also useful for orthopedic implant applications.
Since titanium is non-ferromagnetic, patients with titanium implants can be safely examined with
magnetic resonance imagingMagnetic Resonance Imaging , or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize the internal structure and function of the body...
(convenient for long-term implants). Preparing titanium for implantation in the body involves subjecting it to a high-temperature
plasmaIn physics and chemistry, plasma is a partially ionized gas, in which a certain proportion of electrons are free rather than being bound to an atom or molecule. The ability of the positive and negative charges to move somewhat independently makes the plasma electrically conductive so that it...
arc which removes the surface atoms, exposing fresh titanium that is instantly oxidized. Titanium is also used for the
surgical instrumentsA surgical instrument is a specially designed tool or device for performing specific actions of carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access for viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of surgical instruments and tools...
used in
image-guided surgeryImage-guided surgery is the general term used for any surgical procedure where the surgeon uses indirect visualization to operate, i.e., by employing imaging instruments in real time, such as fiber optic guides, internal video cameras, flexible or rigid endoscopes, ultrasonography, etc...
, as well as wheelchairs, crutches, and any other products where high strength and low weight are desirable.
Its inertness and ability to be attractively colored makes it a popular metal for use in
body piercingBody piercing is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewellery may be worn. Body piercing is a form of body modification. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act...
. Titanium may be
anodizedAnodizing, or anodising in British English, is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called "anodizing" because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit...
to produce various colors.
Precautions
Titanium is non-toxic even in large doses and does not play any natural role inside the
human bodyThe human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 10 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
. An estimated 0.8 milligrams of titanium is ingested by humans each day but most passes through without being absorbed. It does, however, have a tendency to bio-accumulate in tissues that contain silica. An unknown mechanism in
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s may use titanium to stimulate the production of
carbohydrateCarbohydrates
[Means "hydrates of carbon"] or saccharides
[The word comes from the Greek σάκχαρον, sákcharon, meaning "sugar").] are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules...
s and encourage growth. This may explain why most plants contain about 1 part per million (ppm) of titanium, food plants have about 2 ppm, and
horsetailEquisetum is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. They are commonly known as horsetails....
and
nettleNettle is the common name for between 30-45 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution...
contain up to 80 ppm.
As a powder or in the form of metal shavings, titanium metal poses a significant fire hazard and, when heated in air, an explosion hazard. Water and
carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state...
-based methods to extinguish fires are ineffective on burning titanium; Class D dry powder fire fighting agents must be used instead.
When used in the production or handling of chlorine, care must be taken to use titanium only in locations where it will not be exposed to dry chlorine gas which can result in a titanium/chlorine fire. A fire hazard exists even when titanium is used in wet chlorine due to possible unexpected drying brought about by extreme weather conditions.
Titanium can catch fire when a fresh, non-oxidized surface comes in contact with
liquid oxygenLiquid oxygen is a form of the element oxygen. It has a pale blue color and is strongly paramagnetic and can be suspended between the poles of a powerful horse shoe magnet...
. Such surfaces can appear when the oxidized surface is struck with a hard object, or when a mechanical strain causes the emergence of a crack. This poses the possible limitation for its use in liquid oxygen systems, such as those found in the aerospace industry.
See also
- Titanium in Africa
Titanium mining in Africa has been beset by environmental problems due to the polluting nature of processing rutile, a principal titanium ore. Titanium production in Africa includes the following principal countries and companies.- Kenya:...
- Titanium alloy
Titanium alloys are metallic materials which contain a mixture of titanium and other chemical elements. Such alloys have very high tensile strength and toughness , light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures...
- Titanium coating
Titanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties....
- Titanium compounds
- Titanium Metals Corporation
Titanium Metals Corporation , founded in 1950, is a leading manufacturer of titanium-based metals products, focusing primarily on the aerospace industry....
- Titanium minerals
- VSMPO-AVISMA
VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation , where VSMPO stands for Verkhnesaldinskoye metallurgicheskoye proizvodstvennoye ob'yedineniye , is the world's largest titanium producer. Located in Yekaterinburg, Russia, VSMPO-AVISMA also operates facilities in Ukraine, England, Switzerland, Germany and the United States...
External links