Titanium(II) oxide (TiO) is an inorganicchemical compound of titanium and oxygen. It can be prepared from titanium dioxide and titanium metal at 1500 °C.[1] It is non-stoichiometric in a range TiO0.7 to TiO1.3 and this is caused by vacancies of either Ti or O in the defect rock salt structure.[1] In pure TiO 15% of both Ti and O sites are vacant,[1] as the vacancies allow metal-metal bonding between adjacent Ti centres. Careful annealing can cause ordering of the vacancies producing a monoclinic form which has 5 TiO units in the primitive cell that exhibits lower resistivity.[2] A high temperature form with titanium atoms with trigonal prismatic coordination is also known.[3] Acid solutions of TiO are stable for a short time then decompose to give hydrogen:[1]
2 Ti2+(aq) + 2 H+(aq) → 2 Ti3+(aq) + H2(g)
Gas-phase TiO shows strong bands in the optical spectra of cool (M-type) stars.[4][5] In 2017, TiO was claimed to be detected in an exoplanet atmosphere for the first time; a result which is still debated in the literature.[6][7] Additionally, evidence has been obtained for the presence of the diatomic molecule TiO in the interstellar medium.[8]
References
^ abcdHolleman, Arnold Frederik; Wiberg, Egon (2001), Wiberg, Nils (ed.), Inorganic Chemistry, translated by Eagleson, Mary; Brewer, William, San Diego/Berlin: Academic Press/De Gruyter, ISBN0-12-352651-5
^Sedaghati, Elyar; Boffin, Henri M.J.; MacDonald, Ryan J.; Gandhi, Siddharth; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Gibson, Neale P.; Oshagh, Mahmoudreza; Claret, Antonio; Rauer, Heike (14 September 2017). "Detection of titanium oxide in the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter". Nature. 549 (7671): 238–241. arXiv:1709.04118. Bibcode:2017Natur.549..238S. doi:10.1038/nature23651. PMID28905896. S2CID205259502.