I-Corps: Room Temperature Titanium Extraction from Low-Cost Pigments

I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发钛生产的绿色制造技术。特殊金属，如钛及其合金，具有独特的耐腐蚀性、高比强度和优异的生物相容性。这些金属可用于制造医疗植入物的高性能部件以及深海采矿和机器人等其他应用。此外，所提出的室温制钛工艺可能使未来的合金如高熵合金的发展成为可能，这些合金不适合目前的高温制造工艺。此外，拟议的制造工艺可用于从氧化物中提取稀土金属，满足美国汽车工业制造电动机的关键需求。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发一种电化学方法来制造钛（Ti）零件，利用在室温下将低成本颜料（TiO2）精炼成增值产品（例如，钛粉/钛线）。虽然电化学方法已经被其他人利用，但提出的技术是基于一种独特的液态金属合金作为阳极。液态金属合金具有“催化”能力，能够在不需要升高温度的情况下加速从固体TiO2中提取钛。由此产生的增值产品可以用作增材制造的原材料，以交付Ti零件。与传统的Ti精炼工艺相比，这种室温工艺可能节省50%以上的能源成本，并且可能更容易与增材制造直接结合。此外，这项技术可能会将Ti粉的价格从每磅50美元降低到每磅4美元。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a green manufacturing technology for titanium production. Special metals, such as titanium and its alloys, have unique corrosion resistance, high specific strength, and excellent bio-compatibility. These metals may be used in the fabrication of high-performance parts for medical implants and other applications such as deep sea mining and robotics. In addition, the proposed room temperature process for titanium production may enable the development of future alloys such as high entropy alloys, which are not suitable for the current high temperature manufacturing process. Also, the proposed manufacturing process may be applied to extract rare earth metals from their oxides, satisfying critical needs in manufacturing electric motors for the US auto industry.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an electrochemical approach for titanium (Ti) parts manufacturing utilizing low-cost pigments (TiO2) refined into value-added products (e.g., Ti powders/wires) at room temperature. Though electrochemical approaches have been exploited by others, the proposed technology is based on a unique liquid metal alloy as the anode. The liquid metal alloy has a “catalytic” capability, capable of accelerating titanium extractions from solid TiO2 without the need for elevated temperatures. The resulting value-added products may be used as raw materials in additive manufacturing to deliver Ti parts. This proposed room temperature process potentially may save more than 50% of the energy costs versus the traditional Ti refining process and may be easier to directly couple with additive manufacturing. In addition, this technology may decrease the price of Ti powder from $50 per pound to $4 per pound.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.