New Metal

Titanium was once regarded as a chemical curiosity. When it turned up as an impurity in certain iron ores, it was reclassified as a chemical nuisance. Then chemists learned how to remove titanium from iron ore, and found that its oxide is intensely white. So titanium dioxide got a job as a pigment for white paints. But until recently no one had much hope for the pure element as a metal. Getting it out of its ores in metallic form was very difficult.

Last week the Du Pont Co. announced that it was making about 100 pounds of metallic titanium a day, and was offering it at $5 a pound for manufacturers to experiment with. The new metal turns out to be wonderful stuff, according to Du Pont. It looks like stainless steel and is about as strong and corrosion-resistant, but weighs only slightly more than half as much. It is several times stronger than aluminum, and less than twice as heavy.

Titanium is so new on the commercial market that no one knows yet how many alloys can be made out of it (most metals are improved in strength and other desirable qualities by proper alloying).

Some likely uses: airplane and jet engine parts (for high strength, lightness and heat resistance); marine hardware (resistance to salt water); industrial equipment where corrosion resistance is important. If titanium does catch on, there is plenty of it. There is more titanium on earth than all the lead, zinc, tin, nickel, copper, gold and silver put together.

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