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

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/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、高比强度和优良的生物相容性。 这些金属可用于制造医疗植入物和其他应用（如深海采矿和机器人）的高性能部件。 此外，所提出的用于钛生产的室温工艺可以使得能够开发不适合当前高温制造工艺的未来合金，例如高熵合金。 此外，所提出的制造工艺可应用于从其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。该I-Corps项目基于开发用于钛（Ti）部件制造的电化学方法，该方法利用低成本颜料（TiO 2）精炼成增值产品（例如，Ti粉末/线）。 虽然电化学方法已被其他人利用，但所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，能够加速从固体TiO 2中提取钛，而无需升高温度。 由此产生的增值产品可用作增材制造中的原材料，以交付钛部件。 与传统的Ti精炼工艺相比，这种提出的室温工艺可能节省超过50%的能源成本，并且可能更容易直接与增材制造结合。 此外，这项技术可能会降低钛粉的价格从每磅50美元到每磅4美元。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.