Moon’s titanium-rich rocks:
A new study by researchers from IIT-Kharagpur and the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad decoded moon’s titanium-rich rocks.
- Titanium is the fourth most abundant metal and the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust.
- It often occurs in ore deposits in the form of chemical compounds with iron or oxygen.
- It is present in meteorites and the sun.
- The two prime commercial minerals are Ilmenite (FeTiO3) and Rutile (TiO2).
- Titanium is obtained by the Kroll process.
- Kroll process is a method for producing titanium metal in large quantities and high purity using a magnesium reduction process for titanium tetrachloride, developed by William Justin Kroll in the 1940s.
- It is very corrosion resistant and generally not affected by air, water, acids or bases.
- It has a low density, good strength, is easily fabricated, and has excellent corrosion resistance.
- The metal burns in air and is the only element that burns in nitrogen.
- It is useful in aircraft, spacecraft, ships, and other high-stress applications.
- It also is used in prosthetic devices, because it does not react with fleshy tissue and bone.
- Titanium oxide spectra are used by astronomers to identify cool red dwarf stars.
- It is used as an alloying agent with many metals including aluminium, molybdenum and iron.
