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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Did Strontium Titanate Truly Shine Brighter Than A Diamond?
During the 1950s, a lot of titanates were developed, but strontium titanate has a particularly interesting history even by these standards.
Known as tausonite after the Russian geochemist Lev Tauson, strontium titanate might be amongst the most famous and well-known of all titanate, in no small part because it was one of the first and most fascinating diamond simulants on the market.
Its properties were similar in some respects, and when cut and polished like a natural diamond, it actually shone brighter than the natural precious stone it was compared to.
They had similar lustre, scintillation and brilliance, but tausonite had a much brighter fire, which is the prismatic effect that occurs when light passes through it.
The striking rainbow effect it caused made it immediately popular in the jewellery trade, particularly given it was far cheaper than natural diamonds during a decades-long period of price fixing by one of the biggest diamond producers in the world.
It was given a lot of different names, although the most famous one that retained momentum in the marketplace was “Fabulite”. However, “Marvelite”, “Dynagem” and “Diagem” were also used at various points.
The beautiful fire kept it popular for decades, even amidst concerns that its much lower hardness compared to natural precious stones meant that keys and loose change could cause scratches.
However, this did eventually lead manufacturers to hunt for alternatives, which eventually led to the rise of yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG), gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) and cubic zirconia, the latter of which became as famous a name as tausonite in diamond simulant circles.
Eventually, the synthesis of moissanite replaced almost every other simulated diamond on the market, but despite this, the sheer brightness of the stone has meant that it has managed to remain popular for costume jewellery pieces that will not be scratched or bumped, such as brooches and earrings.
Researchers Announce Potassium Battery Breakthrough
The development of renewable energy and electric vehicles has necessitated advancements way beyond the levels of battery technology people have been able to rely on up until now, whether it is the lithium batteries used in electric vehicles, or new developments that enhance the capacity of materials previously thought to have limited benefits.
In the latter case, this has often involved innovations to take familiar materials and break down barriers to greater storage capacity, something a battery technology firm has now claimed with potassium.
Group1 announced its new development at the Beyond Lithium conference in Austin, Texas, with the world’s first potassium-ion battery taking the cylindrical 18650 form factor.
While the 18650 form factor is the most widely used cell factor, what is new is the way the firm has managed to create Kristonite, a 4v cathode material developed from Prussian white potassium by Group1, which offers high energy storage without having to incorporate some rare or highly toxic minerals associated with lithium, like cobalt and nickel.
The firm states that it is a better option than either lithium-ion or sodium-ion batteries, which if proven will mean increased demand for refined potassium titanates.
“This innovation represents years of dedicated research and product development. By distributing samples to our partners among Tier 1 OEMs and cell manufacturers,“ said Group1 CEO Alexander Girau, adding that the firm is “paving the way for widespread adoption of this transformative technology”.
Potassium certainly isn’t the only material to be the subject of a new technology breakthrough announcement in recent years; in 2022, researchers in Finland said they had found a way to create a fully-effective sand battery for the first time, which could store heat for months on end.
However, as that was a 100-tonne device, it may be beneficial for heating homes and offices, but not for cars or mobile devices. Therefore, the potassium innovation could yet provide the most significant and viable alternative to lithium to emerge for many years.
