Titanium carbide

Titanium carbide
Identifiers
CAS number	12070-08-5
PubChem	16211963
Properties
Molecular formula	TiC
Molar mass	59.89 g/mol
Appearance	black powder
Density	4.93 g/cm3
Melting point	3160 °C, 3433 K, 5720 °F
Boiling point	4820 °C, 5093 K, 8708 °F
Solubility in water	insoluble in water
Structure
Crystal structure	Cubic, cF8
Space group	Fm3m, No. 225
Coordination geometry	Octahedral
Y(what is this?)  (verify) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Titanium carbide, TiC, is an extremely hard (Mohs 9-9.5) refractory metallic material, similar to tungsten carbide.

It is commercially used in tool bits. It has the appearance of black powder with NaCl-type face centered cubic crystal structure. It is mainly used in preparation of cermets, which are frequently used to machine steel materials at high cutting speed.

The resistance to wear, corrosion, and oxidation of a tungsten carbide-cobalt material can be increased by adding 6-30% of titanium carbide to tungsten carbide. This forms a solid solution that is more brittle and susceptible to breakage than the original material.

Tool bits without tungsten content can be made of titanium carbide in nickel-cobalt matrix cermet, enhancing the cutting speed, precision, and smoothness of the workpiece. This material is sometimes called high-tech ceramics and is used as a heat shield for atmospheric reentry of spacecraft. The substance may be also polished and used in scratch-proof watches.

It can be etched with reactive-ion etching.

The mineralogical form is very rare and called khamrabaevite - (Ti,V,Fe)C.

Titanium-carbon clusters

A surprisingly stable cluster with formula Ti₈C₁₂⁺, was detected in 1992.^[1][2] The 20 atoms were conjectured to be arranged as the vertices of a dodecahedron, with the titanium atoms at the corners of a cube ^[1] However, this claim was soon disputed by Linus Pauling^[3] who proposed an alternative arrangement — with the Ti atoms still at the corners of a cube, but with the carbon atoms pushed inwards so as to be nearly coplanar with the faces of that cube.

References

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