Ebonex Science

Ebonex® ceramic is a metallic-type conductor with conductivity  comparable to that of carbon, but with superior oxidation resistance. Its crystal structure of the titanium suboxides provides a combination of corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance and electrical conductivity.

The parent structure is rutile titanium dioxide, which can be described as a network of TiO6 octahedra sharing edges in a plane and edges along the axis perpendicular to that plane.

The titanium suboxides (TinO2n-1) can be defined as a sheared rutile structure, accommodating the oxygen deficiency in the structure by the formation of crystal shear planes along the nth plane of octahedral.

For example, Ti407 has one TiO layer for every 3 TiO2 layers. The TiO plane is attached to the adjacent TiO2 plane via shared faces instead of shared edges as in rutile titania. The result is a conductive band intimately surrounded by titania. The conductivity of Ebonex® ceramic material arises from the TiO layers and the chemical resistance from the TiO2 layers sandwiching and protecting the TiO layer.