How Might Trump Tariffs Affect Potassium Titanate Supplies?
The use of potassium titanates is very widespread in different chemical and industrial processes. Whether it is used in automobiles, precision machinery, or enhancing the hardness and durability of rubber, its usefulness is unquestioned.
Among the qualities that make it so useful are strength and rigidity that can match graphite, low hardness that matches aluminium and great friction resistance, which makes it extremely useful in devices such as car brake pads. In addition, it can be used to take the place of asbestos and remove the deadly health risks the latter fireproof material poses.
These qualities mean demand is high and likely to expand as the substance is increasingly used in new applications. However, those who seek supplies may stop and wonder if demand will be impacted by global events, not least the imposition of trade tariffs by the United States.
Global trade and finance analyst firm Stout has predicted that the automotive industry, which uses potassium titanate so much, could be a sector significantly impacted by these, with President Trump imposing a blanket 25 per cent tariff on all cars being imported to the US.
It forecasted that raw material costs could be significantly raised, which indicates that the cost of potassium titanate may increase. However, much will depend on which countries can still source it. Moreover, if the material is being exported to the US, it will be those buying it who pay the tariff. That doesn’t necessarily mean the cost will go up here in the UK.
Demand may be reduced in some countries for the reason that markets may take a double hit. Some makers who have exported a lot of cars to the US may do so less or not at all (Jaguar Land Rover, for instance, has suspended all US exports), while any broader damage to the global economy could have a wider dampening effect on demand.
However, this may just be a blip. Economic reality may make tariffs unsustainable in the US, while other nations may buy fewer American cars. As such, over time adjustments will be made, which could make any drop in demand for potassium titanates a short-term effect.
Is Strontium Titanate Still Used As A Diamond Simulant?
There is a wide range of titanates available from a supplier, many of which are used as part of electrical equipment, either as part of ceramics, capacitors or optical instruments.
Whilst strontium titanate is used for all of these, it has also historically been used as a functional and aesthetic replacement of diamonds, with its peak as a diamond simulant being between the early 1950s and the mid-1970s.
There is no shortage of competition when it comes to materials that replicate the properties of diamonds, including lab-grown diamonds themselves in recent years.
Outside of this, cubic zirconia is the most popular synthetic diamond substitute for purposes such as costume jewellery due to its affordability and durability.
However, strontium titanate is still sometimes used despite alternatives being available, and the biggest reason for this is that, when cut and polished, it actually can shine brighter than a diamond.
Brightness and lustre are measured in terms of their fire, and strontium titanate notably refracts light into a kaleidoscopic dispersion of bright colours.
Known most famously as Fabulite, it was often bought instead of diamond because of how it looked, and whilst it has since become unsuitable for certain types of jewellery, it is still a popular option for earrings, brooches and pendants with larger stones.
It is less commonly found in rings or bracelets, because if not set properly it can be chipped or nicked if in constant contact with hard surfaces.
The reason for this is that despite the best efforts of laboratories to replicate the hardness of diamonds, no other stone, synthetic or otherwise, has been able to replicate the prismatic beauty of Fabulite.
It is no longer as common in jewellery and is rarely ever used as a diamond simulant, but unlike other imitation diamonds, it has forged its own identity both practically and aesthetically.
How Does Barium Titanate Work In Solar Panels?
Barium titanate is a particularly useful ceramic powder with a wide range of different applications, used in the manufacturing of everything from ceramic capacitors and microphones to thermistors, thermal cameras and electro-optical display panels.
One of its more recent applications, however, is solar cells and panels, where it creates a strong internal electric field that separates the positive and negative charges generated by light. This enhances the photovoltaic effect and can actually make these panels even more efficient for electricity generation.
Interestingly, research from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg – published last year – indicated that barium titanate solar panels are 1,000 times more powerful than traditional silicone panels.
It was found that combining very thin layers of barium titanate, strontium titanate and calcium titanate in a lattice structure significantly increases the solar energy yield.
This finding has excellent implications for the solar industry, as solar panels manufactured using barium titanate layered with other materials would be significantly more efficient, while production costs would be lower than for silicone-based cells.
Less space would also be required to generate the same amount of energy, so they could be used to great effect in urban areas where space is at a premium.
Commenting on the findings, physicist Dr Akash Bhatnagar was quoted by The Brighter Side as saying: “The interaction between the lattice layers appears to lead to a much higher permittivity. In other words, the electrons are able to flow much more easily due to the excitation by the light photons.
“The layer structure shows a higher yield in all temperature ranges than pure ferroelectrics. The crystals are also significantly more durable and do not require special packaging.”
With solar power set to become the biggest electricity source by 2050, according to projects from the International Energy Agency, it’s essential that efficiency of panels is prioritised… and it seems that the answers may well lie in the use of barium titanate.
Will US Tariffs Threaten Potassium Titanate Supplies?
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the issue of tariffs and the threat of trade wars has loomed large. Much of this has centred around rows with China, Mexico and Canada and has threatened movements of goods ranging from avocadoes to oil.
However, there is also the question of mineral exports and whether issues with these might affect various countries. The EU appears to be next in Mr Trump’s sights, while it is uncertain whether the UK will be hit by tariffs or not.
Potassium is one of the minerals mined in large quantities in the US, meaning any issues with its cost and supply to other countries could be a significant concern.
Finding an alternative potassium supplier may be problematic for some, as the other leading producers in the world include Russia and Belarus, which would present a problem for any western nations suddenly facing problems with the US.
However, Germany and Canada are also among the leading nations, so the situation is not too bad from any geopolitical perspective. Indeed, it might even be advantageous for Canada if the agreement that has halted the mutual implementation of tariffs between it and the US subsequently breaks down.
Thankfully, the UK is in a secure position for potash, as it has several mines. These include the ICL potash mine at Boulby and Anglo-American’s Woodsmith mine project in North Yorkshire, which when complete will add to Boulby as a producer of a rare combination of potash and other minerals known as polyhalite, often found in the form of orange crystals.
As a result, potassium will not be something the UK is short of in the event of Britain being hit by some kind of trade war involving mineral imports and exports.
Many things in the world of Donald Trump are uncertain, but thanks to what lies beneath the ground in the UK, at least one mineral supply is not in any doubt.
What Was The Original Natural Name For Strontium Titanate?
There are a large number of synthesised minerals, particularly titanites, which are artificially created and do not have a counterpart in nature. The highly advanced nature of chemical analysis and toll processing allows for these compounds to exist.
However, strontium titanate is a particularly unusual example in that for decades it was believed to be a wholly artificial mineral, but decades after it was originally patented in 1953, it was found in nature in 1982.
Its discovery in Siberia was notable for many different reasons. First of all, it was a mineral that is commonplace today as a material in advanced ceramics and up until the synthesis of cubic zirconia was amongst the most popular simulated diamonds in the world, yet was only found as extremely tiny crystals in nature.
Secondly, the fact it took so long was the reverse of so many materials, minerals and compounds in chemical analysis. The standard progression is to find a mineral in nature and discover its mineral structure to explore ways in which it could be synthesised.
This process often takes years, if not decades, and it took until recently for chemically identical lab-grown diamonds to be possible to make at sizes large enough for practical and aesthetic uses.
It was found in Murun Massif, a part of Siberia where several rare minerals were discovered, in a rock formation known as Tausonite Hill, which led to it receiving the name tausonite itself.
The name came from the Soviet geochemist Lev Vladimirovich Tauson (1917 – 1989), the director of the Institute of Geochemistry, based in Irkutsk in the Siberian Division of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
His specialist subject was rare elements found in igneous rocks, which explains in no small part why he was considered to be an appropriate person to name natural strontium titanate after.
It was a largely useless stone in nature, but it helped to prove that some synthetic materials have a basis in the natural world, even if the connection is not always as clear as the shimmering fire of fabulite.
How The Use Of Barium Titanate Detoxifies Feedstock
Barium titanate is one of the most important materials we process and for good reason, as it is highly versatile in carrying out an important range of functions, not least in electronics and electroceramics, as well as its role in non-linear optics.
However, one particularly notable use is the valuable decontamination job it has in the production of hydrocarbon feedstock. This defines any substance that can be refined into hydrogen or other chemicals and includes some very familiar fuel sources such as oil, coal, gas and even water.
The refining processes can include the application of extreme heat, such as in ethylene furnaces, which produce cracked gas products like ethylene and propylene from feedstocks like ethane, propane, butane and kerosene.
However, the process of extracting chemicals from feedstock does have a major downside in that the production of hydrocarbon feedstock itself can require substantial quantities of toxic materials such as nickel and vanadium, for example through the use of nickel-based catalysts.
Unfortunately, this brings a downside as the toxicity of nickel can poison the cracking units used in subsequent processes, with this contamination inhibiting the production of high-value hydrocarbon molecules.
Vanadium has a different negative effect, which involves the deallumination of Y zeolite structures, which causes zeolite crystals to disintegrate, something nickel does not do. Consequently, some of the materials used to help produce feedstocks are as useful to it as square wheels on a car.
Since these effects hamper the production of feedstock and extraction of other materials from it, the addition of barium titanate to reduce the level of contamination can play a key role in making these chemical processes involving feedstocks more effective.
For a substance like barium titanate, which has such an array of uses in electroceramics, electronics and non-linear optics, the fact it is also water-soluble, can exist in multiple forms (although commonly seen as a white powder) and has the invaluable properties of being able to reduce contamination of feedstocks makes it a truly special material.
How Potassium Titanate Can Be Produced From Potash
Potassium titanate is a stable chemical that offers high wear resistance even in very hot conditions. This makes it useful in areas like the automotive industry, welding, electrodes, and coatings.
However, establishing the material, which exists in powder form, is the end point of a process that involves a great deal more than just digging the stuff up from the ground, for potassium titanate is created through a reaction between potassium and titanium dioxide.
This material and its many modern applications may be particularly useful in the 21st century, but the potassium it is extracted from has had its own uses that date back centuries.
Potassium carbonate, also known as potash, is an easily accessible form of the mineral that acted as an alternative to sodium carbonate in the making of glass and bleaching of textiles. Potash was usually obtained from land plants and sodium from sea plants.
The presence of potassium in plants should come as no surprise, as it is present in high quantities in foods like bananas.
Eventually, potassium came to be of greater importance as unlike sodium carbonate, it could be used in making gunpowder. Initially, it could be obtained in large quantities from wood, but this involved major deforestation until the 1860s, when the first mineral deposits were found in Germany.
Later, as two world wars made reliance on Germany impossible, the US and other countries found their own deposits, although the UK did not have its own potash mine until the 1970s, when the Boulby Mine in North Yorkshire began production. At one time this one mine accounted for half the potash in the UK.
While potash continues to be useful as a fertiliser and in soap making, among other purposes, its potassium compounds mean it can find a much more high-tech utility when combined with titanium dioxide.
How Was NASA Involved In The Use Of Potassium Titanate?
Whilst all titanates are widely used in one field or another, one of the most critical when it comes to protecting people’s lives on a daily basis is perhaps potassium titanate.
Due to its extremely high melting point, potassium titanate has become a widely used additive in a variety of situations where friction at high heat levels is essential, and a 1976 technical report published by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States may have contributed to this.
In the mid-1970s, a huge raft of safety regulations were enacted which greatly affected the US car industry, largely spearheaded by the 1965 Ralph Nader book Unsafe at Any Speed as well as an oil crisis that meant the US car industry could no longer sell the inefficient muscle cars characteristic of the industry.
The quickest solution to reach these stringent efficiency and clean air targets was to reduce power and add a much larger protruding bumper to increase safety in the easiest way possible. It was the definition of the path of least resistance, but it was also far from a sustainable option.
There needed to be more effective and sustainable safety solutions that actually helped to solve the problems noted in Unsafe at Any Speed and increasingly fixed in other countries.
The long bumpers were replaced by the now-industry standard deformable bumper and crumple zone, more efficient diesel engines were made to increase fuel economy and eventually reduce emissions through fuel injection and better-designed carburettors, and there were improvements to both handling and braking.
The latter, in particular, was aided by a move away from traditional drum brakes to brake disks, which used ceramic brake pads made with potassium titanate as an additive.
The advantage of this is that they lasted longer and were more effective at high temperatures, something confirmed in a report sponsored by NASA, reducing the problem of brake fade and dramatically improving safety as a result.
What Role Can Potassium Titanate Play In Battery Advances?
Potassium titanate is an important compound for use in various chemical processes, such as in capacitors and friction materials like brake pads. But in the future, it may have another role to play in motoring.
As Material Properties has noted, the compound could have a major role to play in the future in battery technology development. It said: “One promising area is its use in next-generation batteries, where it could potentially improve energy density and longevity.”
This area is not just theoretical or a case of a new application searching for a use. This is an age when electric vehicles are proliferating and there is a growing need to store more electricity when renewables cannot produce it all the time – the answer to the question of what happens when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
The need for batteries to be able to last longer and store more energy is an imperative for the electric vehicle sector, as it will make the charging process more efficient and also reduce concerns about ‘range anxiety’ – the notion that a vehicle travelling to a more remote area might get stranded out of reach of a charger.
Progress is already being made in this area with other materials. For example, Lithium-sulphur batteries may now offer the prospect of better storage capacity and longevity than other renewable batteries after engineers at Southern Methodist University in the US found a way to prevent polysulfide dissolution from occurring during their use.
Polysulfide dissolution reduces the lifespan of such batteries, but a new polymer created by researchers enables these batteries to be used without this happening.
While this may advance the cause for lithium-sulphur batteries, work is taking place on various other substances to seek to overcome constraints on capacity.
In such an active industry aiming at the critical goal of decarbonising the motor industry, there are many materials that could have a role to play. Potassium titanate is very much among them.
Did Barium Titanate Begin A Golden Age of Ferroelectricity?
Of the many titanate compounds available and widely used in industrial practices, barium titanate might possibly be the one that changed entire industries the most through the widespread development of a critical type of insulator.
The concept of ferroelectricity was not invented with the discovery of barium titanate, with the concept first discovered by Elie Seignette in the 17th century. The term comes from its similarity to ferromagnetism, not because any ferroelectric materials actually contain iron.
The first ferroelectric, Rochelle salt, deforms when an electric field is applied to them, a property that was only discovered in 1921, although given the structure of the material it remained to be seen if it could be usefully applied.
That question was comprehensively answered in 1945 with the discovery of barium titanate’s ferroelectric properties, making it the first ferroelectric material that did not have any hydrogen bonds in its structure.
This was important as it allowed it to be far more widely used as a capacitor and have multiple phases of ferroelectricity. This made it hugely important for military and industrial applications, and the hunt for other similar materials would only bring this even further forward.
The following decade and beyond, from 1945 until the early 1960s led to the discovery of 100 ferroelectric materials as well as a wide range of discoveries surrounding industrial applications for ferroelectricity as a concept.
This was known as the Golden Age of Ferroelectricity and proved to be one of the most fertile grounds for the early application and evolution of titanates with a footprint and consequences that we still see today in various electronic industries.
It also allowed for the development of a widespread electronic industry and the beginnings of miniaturisation.
Before the ability to use barium titanate as a capacitor, the main insulating materials used in electrical experiments were paper and mica, a silicate primarily found in paints and drywall material.
Barium titanate changed that by being both better suited for the task and also more widely available.
