What is high-purity titanium?
High purity titanium refers to a special form of titanium that has been refined to a very high level of purity (usually ≥ 99.9%) through a special refining process, in order to preserve its single metallic properties to the greatest extent possible and significantly enhance its performance in specific fields.
With the continuous application of titanium products in industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, and new energy, the requirements for upstream raw materials in end products have become increasingly strict. Both purity and stability are key factors in measuring the quality of titanium raw materials.
1. Core feature: Comparison with titanium alloy
To better understand, we can compare high-purity titanium with common titanium alloys such as TC4:
| Characteristics | High - purity Titanium | Titanium Alloy (e.g., TC4) |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | Titanium content ≥ 99.9%, and the content of impurity elements (such as O, N, C, Fe, etc.) is extremely low. | The main component is titanium, but alloying elements such as aluminum and vanadium are actively added to change properties. |
| Core Concept | "Subtraction method": Remove impurities and return to the intrinsic properties of titanium. | "Addition method": Obtain better comprehensive mechanical properties by adding elements. |
| Mechanical Properties | Low strength, soft texture, excellent plasticity and toughness. It is very easy to carry out plastic processing. | High strength, high hardness, and excellent comprehensive mechanical properties. |
| Main Advantages | Extremely high corrosion resistance, excellent plasticity, toughness and cold working performance, and excellent electrical/thermal consistency. | Excellent strength - to - weight ratio (specific strength), good corrosion resistance and thermal strength. |
| Application Orientation | Fields with extreme requirements for purity, corrosion resistance and processability. | Fields with high requirements for structural strength and weight. |
2、 The "high-purity" standard and grade of high-purity titanium
The commonly referred to "high-purity titanium" is a relative concept, and its purity levels have different standards:
3N (99.9%): This is the entry-level for high-purity titanium.
4N (99.99%): This is a commonly used high-purity grade in industry and scientific research.
5N (99.999%) and above: Belongs to ultra-high purity titanium, mainly used in cutting-edge technology fields such as semiconductor sputtering targets, with extremely high preparation difficulty and cost.
Key point: The most critical impurities that affect the performance of titanium are interstitial elements, especially oxygen (O). Even trace amounts of oxygen can dramatically increase the strength of titanium and reduce its plasticity. Therefore, the core of producing high-purity titanium is deoxidation.
3、 Main performance characteristics
1. Excellent corrosion resistance:
The corrosion resistance of titanium comes from the dense oxide film on its surface. High purity titanium has very few impurities, making this oxide film more uniform, stable, and has stronger repair ability.
Therefore, its corrosion resistance (especially in chloride environments) far exceeds that of stainless steel and ordinary industrial pure titanium, and even surpasses most titanium alloys. It is one of the ultimate choices for dealing with harsh corrosive environments.
2. Excellent plastic processing performance:
Due to its low strength and good plasticity, high-purity titanium can undergo intense cold processing at room temperature, similar to gold and silver, such as rolling into extremely thin foils (up to micrometer level) or drawing into extremely fine filaments, without the need for intermediate annealing.
3.Excellent electrical and thermal properties:
Impurities can scatter electrons and phonons, affecting the conductivity and thermal conductivity of materials. High purity titanium removes these scattering centers, making its physical properties such as resistivity and thermal conductivity more stable and consistent. This is crucial for electronic materials that require consistent performance.
Among various melting processes, products produced by electron beam melting (EB) stand out due to their lack of internal defects and excellent impurity removal efficiency. Chuangrun New Materials currently has 7 EB furnaces, dedicated to producing titanium ingots with a purity of up to 99.9995% and an oxygen content of less than 0.01%. The maximum diameter of the ingot can reach 800mm. This large diameter ingot allows for more diversified deformation processing methods and significantly improves the yield rate of processing.