Plasma Titanium Dioxide
Quick Spec Summary
| Spec | Value |
| Composition | Titanium dioxide, 99% minimum (rutile/anatase) |
| Macrohardness | Rc53 |
| Cross-sectional hardness | 650 DPH300 |
| Service temperature | ≤540°C (1000°F) |
| Surface finish achievable | 6–8 µin aa ground; wet grinding or lapping |
| Substrates | Low carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, nickel alloys, cast iron |
| Industries | Textiles, seals/wear rings, print & paper, medical/lab, self-cleaning surfaces, sensors/photovoltaic, marine |
| QA / Spec | AS9100 & ISO 9001 certified, NADCAP-compliant, full lab cert on request |
A&A Coatings titanium dioxide powder makes hard, dense ceramic coatings. Abrasive grain and hard surfaces wear it down slowly, as long as the part stays under 540°C (1000°F). And when the job calls for a smooth surface, few ceramics can match it. We grind and lap this material to finishes that rival polished metal.
Need a quote? Call 888-725-0150 or send us a request. Our team replies the same business day.
Where the Material Comes From
Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the earth’s crust. You will not find it sitting around as a free metal. It grabs oxygen instead, forming titanium dioxide, and it usually drags iron, manganese, or magnesium along for the ride. That mix is why raw titanium sands look black.
Refining takes those tagalongs out. What is left is a powder that is non-toxic, does not burn, and holds its chemistry steady. That last part is why titanium dioxide pushed lead out of paints and coatings decades ago.
Refining runs on chlorine chemistry — the standard process for pulling pure titanium dioxide out of raw ore, with the chlorine recycled back into the loop rather than consumed. That efficiency has a real dollar figure attached to it: one cross-industry analysis put the savings to U.S. and Canadian buyers at roughly $1.4 billion a year versus alternative production routes.
There is one more thing worth knowing. The material is electron rich — 22 electrons and protons per atom — and that density is what does the work optically. When light passes through a titanium dioxide particle, those electrons get in the way and slow it down. The light bounces around and scatters. That behavior is what makes it a great white pigment. It is also part of why it works so well as a coating.
Powder Characteristics
| Typical composition | Titanium dioxide, 99% minimum |
| Crystal forms | Rutile and anatase |
| Typical size range | -270 mesh +10 microns, or -53 +10 microns |
| Melting point | 1920°C (3490°F) approximate |
We stock two size cuts. Which one you need comes down to your spray setup and the thickness you are building. Send us the part details, and we will tell you which cut fits. No guessing on your end.
Physical Properties of the Coating
| Texture, as sprayed | 300 to 400 microinches RMS |
| Finish, ground | 6 to 8 microinches aa |
| Macrohardness | Rc53 |
| Cross-sectional hardness | 650 DPH300 |
| Density | 4.1 g/cc |
| Coating weight | 0.021 lb/ft² per 0.001 inch |
That ground finish is the standout number. Six to eight microinches aa is smooth for any coating, let alone a ceramic. Rc53 is softer than chromium oxide, and that trade is worth it when surface finish drives the job.
How the Bond Forms
Titania grips the base metal through mechanical interlock. Molten particles strike the prepared surface at speed and flatten against it. Surface roughness is what holds the coating in place, so prep is not a step to skip.
We grit blast the part, then clean it to strip oil and residue. Miss either step and the coating can lift or flake once the part sees service. On a rotating part, a lifted coating turns a good part into scrap in short order.
Arc settings and spray distance shape the bond too. Too far and particles cool before they land. Too close and the base metal takes on more heat than it should. Our operators set those values per job, based on part shape and target thickness.
Service Temperature
Do not expose titanium dioxide coatings to temperatures above 540°C (1000°F). Titania, and coatings with a large titania share, go through a phase transformation above that line. The coating embrittles. Then it cracks. Once that happens, the part is done.
Running hot? Say so up front. Chromium oxide takes more heat, and we would rather move you to the right material than sell you one that fails in service.
Thickness Limitation
Keep titania between 0.020 and 0.025 inches. Thicker coatings build stress, and ceramics do not bend. They break. Stay inside that window and the bond holds.
Thickness control matters most on inside diameters and flat faces. On a shaft, the coating wraps around and spreads stress across the curve. On a flat plate or the inside of a bore, stress has nowhere to go. That is why the ceiling is tighter on those shapes. If your print calls for more than the limit, call us before you send the part. There may be a way to hit the spec with a different material or a two layer approach.
Substrates
- Low carbon steel
- Stainless steel
- Alloy steels
- Nickel based alloys
- Cast iron
Prep decides everything with ceramics. A clean, rough surface gives the coating teeth. A smooth or oily surface gives it nothing, and the bond fails no matter how good the powder is.
Surface Finish Achievable
| As-sprayed | 300 to 400 microinches RMS |
| Ground, 100 grit silicon carbide | 6 to 8 microinches aa |
| Lapped | Finer still — ask when you send the part |
Grinding is the best way to finish titania. We use 100 grit silicon carbide wheels and run wet rather than dry. Wet grinding keeps the surface cool and cuts the risk of micro cracking.
Cylindrical grinding
| Parameter | Value |
| Wheel | GC100-G11-VR |
| Wheel speed | 1650 to 1950 m/min (5500 to 6500 ft/min) |
| Surface work speed | 15 to 30 m/min (50 to 100 ft/min) |
| Traverse speed, roughing | 30.5 cm/min (12 inches per min) |
| Traverse speed, finishing | 10 to 15 cm/min (4 to 6 inches per min) |
Surface grinding
| Parameter | Value |
| Wheel | GC100-G11-VR |
| Wheel speed | 1650 to 1950 m/min (5500 to 6500 ft/min) |
Industries Served
Textiles. Rollers and guides that touch thread need a hard surface that will not snag. The ground finish is why this material shows up here.
Seals and wear rings. Low friction, hard, and smooth. Pump and seal faces get long life out of it.
Print and paper. Rollers in these machines have to hold tolerance and stay smooth. Titania does both.
Medical and laboratory equipment. Surfaces that see repeated cleaning and light exposure benefit from a hard, chemically stable coating. Titania is inert and holds up well in these settings. The material also supports plasma disinfection and sterilization, which is why it shows up on aseptic instruments and surfaces. Light-conducting medical equipment is prone to biofilm formation, and titania combined with UV light exposure produces a germicidal effect that helps keep those surfaces clean.
Self-cleaning surfaces. Titanium dioxide is photocatalytic. Under UV light, it breaks down organic matter on the surface. This property is why it appears in self-cleaning glass, exterior and interior building tiles, self-cleaning roof tiles, tent material, and low-VOC systems.
Sensors and photovoltaic cells. Exhaust gas sensors and solar cell components use titania coatings for their stable electrical and optical behavior.
Marine equipment. The coating resists saltwater corrosion and holds up against abrasion from deck hardware and rigging.
General wear parts. If abrasive grain is eating your part and a rough surface would cause trouble, this is a candidate.
A Note on Surface Treatment
Titanium dioxide particles like to crowd together in highly pigmented systems. When they crowd, light scattering drops and the coating loses some of its optical punch. The fix is a controlled surface treatment on the pigment itself, which acts as a physical spacer between particles. This matters more for pigment applications than for plasma spray coatings, but the same principle applies when titania is blended with other materials. If your application depends on light behavior, tell us up front and we will factor it in.
How Titania Compares
Titania is not the hardest ceramic we spray. Chromium oxide is harder. So why pick titania? Finish. Chromium oxide grinds to 15 to 35 microinches aa. Titania grinds to 6 to 8. When the surface has to be smooth, that gap decides the choice.
On heat, chromium oxide also wins. It handles wear up to 540°C (1000°F), same as titania, but its corrosion story runs further when sealed. Titania is the pick when finish leads and heat stays moderate.
Sealers and Post-Treatment
Ceramic coatings carry some porosity. For many jobs that does not matter. For chemical service or wet environments, a sealer closes the surface and keeps media away from the base metal. Tell us the service conditions and we will recommend a sealer that fits. Skip this step on a corrosive job and the coating may still wear well, but the base metal underneath can suffer.
Spec and Quality
A&A Coatings holds AS9100 and ISO 9001 certifications and meets NADCAP requirements for coatings. Our lab checks thickness, hardness, bond, and microstructure before parts ship. Working to a customer spec? Tell us at quote time and we will supply the paperwork with the parts.
Common Questions
Can titania take impact? Not well. It is a ceramic, so it is brittle. For pounding loads, look at a different coating.
Will it work on an inside diameter? Yes, within the thickness limit. Inside diameters and flat surfaces are where thickness control matters most.
Do I need a sealer? Only if the part sees chemicals, moisture, or other media that could reach the base metal. Ask us and we will say yes or no for your case.
How smooth can it get? Ground finishes reach 6 to 8 microinches aa. Lapping can go finer.
Start a Quote
Call 888-725-0150 or send your part details through our quote form. Same business day reply, every time.
Related Reading
Understanding Titanium Dioxide In Thermal Spray Coatings
What color is your little girl’s room? Bright orange, purple, pink? Every one of those shades traces back to pigment chemistry, and titanium dioxide is one of the most important pigments in that story — it’s in paint, sunscreen, paper, and plastics, prized because it’s non-toxic, nonflammable, and chemically stable enough to have pushed lead out of residential paints decades ago.
Most titanium dioxide is produced using chlorine chemistry, with the chlorine recycled back into the process. That efficiency isn’t just a production footnote — one cross-industry analysis found it saves U.S. and Canadian buyers roughly $1.4 billion a year over alternative methods.
At A&A Coatings, we put that same material to work as a plasma spray coating — hard, dense, and ground to finishes that rival polished metal. For the full technical picture — composition, hardness, service temperature, finishing specs, and the industries we coat it for — see our Plasma Titanium Dioxide material page.
Material Spotlight: Plasma Titanium Dioxide
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is best known as a white pigment, but in plasma spray form it does a different job: it builds hard, wear-resistant, UV-reactive ceramic surfaces. That UV reactivity is what makes it valuable in medical settings — titania coatings support plasma disinfection and sterilization, and on light-conducting medical equipment prone to biofilm formation, titania combined with UV exposure produces a germicidal effect that helps keep surfaces clean.
That’s one of several reasons it shows up across a wide range of industrial and architectural uses, from self-cleaning glass and roof tiles to photovoltaic cells and marine hardware.
For the full spec — composition, hardness, service temperature, finishing parameters, and bond behavior — see our Plasma Titanium Dioxide material page. Want to talk through whether it’s the right fit for your parts? Contact us and we’ll walk through it.
