Aiming at low-oxygen titanium powder: A review

Titanium possesses excellent mechanical properties, unrivalled corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. Still, it is restricted to some niche applications due to its high embodied energy consumption and production cost. The Kroll process used for most commercial titanium powder production is energy-intensive, non-eco-friendly, and costly. The increased production cost and environmental issues have resulted in enormous research and develop-ment activities to develop new methods to produce high-purity titanium powder economically and eco-friendly. These new methods have been categorised into three primary groups: thermochemical, electrochemical, and solution-phase methods. Recent developments are focused on the electrolysis process, including cathodic and anodic reduction. Recent development in hydrogen-assisted magnesiothermic reduction (HAMR) seems prom-ising to produce high-purity titanium at a low cost and low energy consumption. This article, for the first time, discusses the solution-phase methods to produce titanium powder directly. Particular emphasis on the sustain-able production of titanium has also been highlighted. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.