|
|
Article: Dr Chen and the philosopher's stone.(titanium extraction research by George Chen of Cambridge University)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 23, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
TITANIUM ought to be a gift to engineers. It is light, strong and heat resistant. But gifts are supposed to be free, and titanium is expensive. That is not because it is particularly rare (titanium dioxide is the basis of white paint) but because it is hard to extract as a pure metal. If George Chen of Cambridge University and his colleagues are correct, however, that extraction could soon become a lot easier and cheaper.
There are two ways to get metal out of an oxide ore. One is to react the ore with a substance that has a greater affinity for oxygen than the metal in question, a process known as chemical reduction. The other is to break it up with electricity, ...