Titanium is about to get a lot cheaper if the new technology that the Japanese have just revealed is anything to go by. A research team has just unveiled a titanium production method that the scientists claim is going to lower costs significantly, and it will have particular significance in the field of solar power. There’s just one challenge that has to be resolved.
University of Tokyo researchers say their tech will make titanium more affordable
Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, which may sound strange considering its value. The high cost of extracting oxygen from titanium ore is why products made from pure titanium are rare and pricy. Lowering the cost of titanium production could drive manufacturers to leverage its beneficial properties more widely in their products and operations, opening new avenues of affordable technology to the average person on the street.
Yttrium is the ingredient that facilitates cheaper titanium production
The University of Tokyo is proud of its research into a method of producing low-oxygen titanium with minimal oxygen content, a strategy that is certain to lower production costs if it can be proven viable. The scientists have introduced a cheaper process that utilizes yttrium to reduce lower oxygen levels to 0.02% by mass.
The breakthrough has positive implications in terms of broadening the use of titanium for industrial applications. However, yttrium contamination of up to 1% by mass in the titanium alloy is a hurdle that needs to be addressed before the full potential of the new tech can be applied to the manufacturing sector.
In other news about innovations out of Japan, the country’s government has made a firm decision about the future of solar power technology, and the direction chosen is the development of perovskite panels.
The new production method involves titanium dioxide and selenium
The University of Tokyo team from the Institute of Industrial Science is working on a heterojunction solar cell that works on selenium and titanium dioxide. The innovative approach is aimed at increasing energy efficiency and the procedure reduces the cost of producing titanium that’s almost entirely oxygen-free. This oxygen removal process may offer important benefits in the technological development and environmental sustainability spheres if it can be developed to a viable degree.
The Japanese scientists have achieved a 4.49% efficiency rate from a solar cell based on titanium dioxide and selenium. The device is based on a new technique aimed at increasing open-circuit voltage and reducing interfacial recombination. The result is a heterojunction solar cell that employs a window layer made of titanium oxide (TiO2) and an absorber made from selenium (Se).
Taizo Kobayashi, the research’s corresponding author, explained:
“We developed an innovative approach for forming crystallized Se (c-Se) using a stacked precursor based on Se and Tellurium (Te), with an accurate control of the interfacial Te content. The aim is to enhance the adhesion between the TiO2 and Se layers while limiting the detrimental effects of Te enrichment in terms of carrier transport, resulting in a significant improvement of the power conversion efficiency of TiO2/Se heterojunction photovoltaic devices.”
The challenge of yttrium contamination in titanium production
The challenge of the Japanese scientists’ new method is that the titanium is contaminated with up to 1% yttrium. This has detrimental effects on the mechanical and chemical properties of the titanium, such as its durability, strength, or corrosion resistance. The adoption of the new technique will only happen on a broader scale if this issue is addressed.
There are some potential solutions, such as refining protocols, identifying uses for titanium where yttrium contamination is not a problem, or re-processing the titanium to remove the yttrium content.
In more solar energy news, a new study based on a NASA climate model suggests that using a combination of solar and wind energy is a viable way to power human missions to the Red Planet.