Titanium Dioxide
Titanium Dioxide
TITANIUM DIOXIDE
Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) is an inorganic chemical product containing white pigment. It is a well-researched product in chemistry. It is important due to its wide applications. Existing in 3 forms (rutile, anatase, and brookite) it has three types of crystal structure. Rutile and anatase are tetragonal crystalline solids while brookite is orthorhombic. It is also named ad titania, a naturally occurring oxide of titanium. It is an infusible amorphous solid.
Physical Properties
Its appearance is a white pigment or colorless crystalline powder. It is soluble in ethanol and water. On decomposing, it converts to other titanium oxides like TiO, and Ti2O3. It is a metal compound with alkaline nature. It is a divalent chemical product of the laboratory. It is insoluble in organic compounds but soluble in acids. It is odorless and tasteless.
Uses of Titanium Dioxide
- It is used in pharmaceuticals.
- It serves in the UV radiations blocking pigments in sunscreen and fabrics.
- It is used in and paper and plastic.
- It is utilized as a whitening agent in paints and cosmetics.
- It is utilized in antifogging coatings and hydrolysis due to its photocatalytic properties.
- It is used for self-cleaning glass and PECs.
- As it is a neutral product it is used to check the pH of soil.
- It serves in the manufacturing of alloys.
Preparation
It can be formed by either titanium slag and ilmenite. One can extract titanium pigment by chlorine route or sulphate process. But sulphate process takes on simpler technology.
Chemical Properties
- It is a non-toxic material. It serves in natural gas production. The US Food & Drug Administration considers it safe to use.
- It reacts with hot concentrated sulphuric acid and other acids too.
- Its vapor pressure is 0mm/Hg.
- It is a non-toxic material
- It is insoluble in water but soluble in alkali etc.