Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania /taɪˈteɪniə/, is the inorganic

compound derived from titanium with the chemical formula TiO

. When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891.
2

It is a white solid that is insoluble in water, although mineral forms can appear black. As a
[4]

pigment, it has a wide range of applications, including paint, sunscreen, and food coloring. When
used as a food coloring, it has E number E171. World production in 2014 exceeded 9 million
tonnes. It has been estimated that titanium dioxide is used in two-thirds of all pigments, and
[5][6][7]

pigments based on the oxide have been valued at a price of $13.2 billion. [8]

Structure[edit]
In all three of its main dioxides, titanium exhibits octahedral geometry, being bonded to six
oxide anions. The oxides in turn are bonded to three Ti centers. The overall crystal structures
of rutile and anatase are tetragonal in symmetry whereas brookite is orthorhombic. The oxygen
substructures are all slight distortions of close packing: in rutile, the oxide anions are arranged in
distorted hexagonal close-packing, whereas they are close to cubic close-packing in anatase and
to "double hexagonal close-packing" for brookite. The rutile structure is widespread for other
metal dioxides and difluorides, e.g. RuO and ZnF .
2 2

Molten titanium dioxide has a local structure in which each Ti is coordinated to, on average,
about 5 oxygen atoms. This is distinct from the crystalline forms in which Ti coordinates to 6
[9]

oxygen atoms.

Structure of anatase. Together with rutile and brookite, one of the

three major polymorphs of TiO .
2

Synthetic and geologic occurrence[edit]

Synthetic TiO is mainly produced from the mineral ilmenite. Rutile, and anatase, naturally
2

occurring TiO , occur widely also, e.g. rutile as a 'heavy mineral' in beach sand. Leucoxene, fine-
2

grained anatase formed by natural alteration of ilmenite, is yet another ore. Star
sapphires and rubies get their asterism from oriented inclusions of rutile needles. [10]
Mineralogy and uncommon polymorphs[edit]
Titanium dioxide occurs in nature as the minerals rutile and anatase. Additionally two high-
pressure forms are known minerals: a monoclinic baddeleyite-like form known as akaogiite, and
the other has a slight monoclinic distortion of the orthorhombic α-PbO structure and is known as 2

riesite. Both of which can be found at the Ries crater in Bavaria. It is mainly sourced [11][12][13]

from ilmenite, which is the most widespread titanium dioxide-bearing ore around the world.
Rutile is the next most abundant and contains around 98% titanium dioxide in the ore. The
metastable anatase and brookite phases convert irreversibly to the equilibrium rutile phase upon
heating above temperatures in the range 600–800 °C (1,110–1,470 °F). [14]

Titanium dioxide has twelve known polymorphs – in addition to rutile, anatase, brookite,
akaogiite and riesite, three metastable phases can be produced synthetically
(monoclinic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic ramsdellite-like), and four high-pressure forms (α-
PbO -like, cotunnite-like, orthorhombic OI, and cubic phases) also exist:
2

Crystal
Form Synthesis
system

Rutile Tetragonal

Anatase Tetragonal

Brookite Orthorhombic

TiO2(B)[15] Monoclinic Hydrolysis of K2Ti4O9 followed by heating

TiO2(H), hollandite-like form[16] Tetragonal Oxidation of the related potassium titanate bronze, K0.25TiO2

TiO2(R), ramsdellite-like form[17] Orthorhombic Oxidation of the related lithium titanate bronze Li0.5TiO2

TiO2(II)-(α-PbO2-like form)[18] Orthorhombic

Akaogiite (baddeleyite-like form, 7 coordinated Ti)[19]