Although it is not considered a rare metal, titanium is the strongest metal on Earth, and it is very expensive to mine and manufacture. Actually titanium metal is also very common, have you ever heard of titanium golf clubs or titanium submarines? Now, are you curious about how titanium was discovered? What does it do? Here are six "facts" about titanium.
1. The king of the metals was not isolated until the 20th century
In 1791, an amateur mineralogist in England picked up some strange black sand by a stream, and found that some of it was magnetic, so he was sure it was iron oxide, and the question of what the other part was puzzled him, but it was no doubt another oxide, which he could not find in his books.
In 1795, a German chemist Kraprot also found some strange oxides, and named them after the gods of Olympia, so there was titanium oxide.
welded titanium tube supplier believes that although titanium was discovered at the end of the 18th century, little progress has been made since then. It was not until 1910 that the American chemist Hunter isolated titanium from the oxide. Hunt used sodium reduction (also known as Hunt's process) to isolate the first titanium metal with a purity of about 99.9%.
2. Titanium is the lightest and strongest metal on Earth
Titanium is stronger to weight than any metal on Earth, and while it is as strong as steel, it is 45 percent lighter. The discovery of this property made titanium and titanium alloys the materials of choice for aircraft, rockets, missiles, etc. In addition, titanium and titanium alloy are particularly important in the building materials of the A380, the world's largest passenger jet, because they can instantly improve the performance of the aircraft by several times.
Titanium smelting was in full swing only in the 1940s and 1950s, first in military aircraft and submarines, and then in commercial aircraft in the 1960s.
3. Titanium will not be corroded
Corrosion is a chemical process that slowly destroys most metals over time. Because when a metal is acted upon by air, wherever it is, oxygen absorbs electrons and becomes what we call a metal oxide. But not all metals are corroded. For example, titanium is coated with a thin layer of titanium dioxide, which protects the titanium inside from anything from electrochemistry to microbes.
Titanium's natural anti-corrosion properties make it useful not just in aircraft, but also in parts on the sea floor that are exposed to highly corrosive salt water. For example, submarines' propellers are almost all made of titanium, as are their internal ballast and piping systems and parts exposed to seawater.
4. Titanium can be found in all parts of the body
The thin layer of titanium dioxide on the surface of titanium is particularly useful. In addition to the anti-corrosion mentioned earlier, it is also non-toxic and non-allergenic, so titanium can be well integrated into human tissues. This discovery makes titanium the safest material for implantation, and titanium can be found in all parts of the body, and it is quite safe.
This characteristic of titanium has made it very popular in the medical world, and titanium has become the material of choice for many implants. In addition, when titanium is implanted into the body, it triggers the body's immune system to grow bone directly onto the titanium, a process known as bone integration, according to research. We all know that titanium has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, which makes the implant less heavy and also makes it less vulnerable, and it's about as elastic as human bone, which makes it feel like it was made for us.
5. Application of titanium in POTS and other kitchenware
When the price of pure titanium began to fall in the late 20th century, many manufacturers began looking for a commercial advantage for the wonder metal, discovering that its light weight and high strength made it ideal for kitchen use.
Now titanium metal has been widely used in the kitchen home, low weight, high strength and high durability is the common characteristics of these sports equipment, such as pot, rice cooker, wall breaking machine, and so on can be found in titanium figure.
6. White paint contains titanium
Of the millions of tonnes of titanium produced each year, only 5% is forged into the metal, with the remaining 95% converted into titanium dioxide. In addition, titanium dioxide is also a non-toxic pigment, can be used to make paint, white paint in the past was dyed with lead pigment, but after the harm of lead to the human body became known, it was replaced by titanium dioxide, interestingly, in some studies have shown that titanium based paint also has some refreshing functions.
The walls of the home are almost always painted with titanium white paint because titanium dioxide is antiseptic and known for its durability. In addition, titanium dioxide is extremely refractive, giving it a natural shine even more than diamonds, and gives a particularly bright feeling. Titanium dioxide's benefits don't stop there. It even reflects red light, which is why it is also used in solar observatories.