Enhancing protective gas atmospheres: Influence of trace moisture on the oxidation of titanium in oxygen-free atmospheres
- 1Corresponding author.
- 2Clausthal Center of Materials Technology, Clausthal University of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Abstract
In this study, we systematically investigated the influence of residual water on the oxidation of titanium in an oxygen-free atmosphere at ambient pressure created using silane-doped argon. The study addresses a limitation of oxygen-free production: although molecular oxygen can be effectively scavenged by silane, residual moisture remains in the atmosphere and may act as an additional oxidising species for highly reactive metals. High-purity titanium samples (99.995%) were exposed for 10 min to oxygen-free atmospheres with controlled water concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 ppm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyse the resulting changes in the titanium chemical states and to determine the corresponding oxide thickness. In laboratory-scale reaction-chamber experiments, reducing the water concentration from 0.8 ppm to 0.2 ppm reduced the oxide thickness from 0.38 ± 0.09 nm to 0.12 ± 0.09 nm. In a glove box operated under comparable oxygen-free conditions, reducing the water concentration from 1.0 ppm to 0.1 ppm reduced the oxide thickness from 0.61 ± 0.09 nm to 0.23 ± 0.12 nm, corresponding to a reduction of approximately 62%. These results demonstrate that residual water causes measurable oxidation of titanium even after molecular oxygen has been removed and that moisture concentration is therefore an important process parameter for oxygen-free production. The findings show that further optimisation of oxygen-free atmospheres for highly reactive metals requires not only efficient oxygen scavenging but also stringent control of residual moisture.
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BibTeX
@article{zimmermann2026enhancing,
title = {{Enhancing protective gas atmospheres: Influence of trace moisture on the oxidation of titanium in oxygen-free atmospheres}},
author = {Sascha Jan Zimmermann and René Gustus and Wolfgang Maus-Friedrichs},
journal = {Applied Surface Science Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101084},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101084},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Enhancing protective gas atmospheres: Influence of trace moisture on the oxidation of titanium in oxygen-free atmospheres
AU - Sascha Jan Zimmermann
AU - René Gustus
AU - Wolfgang Maus-Friedrichs
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Applied Surface Science Advances
DO - 10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101084
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101084
AB - In this study, we systematically investigated the influence of residual water on the oxidation of titanium in an oxygen-free atmosphere at ambient pressure created using silane-doped argon. The study addresses a limitation of oxygen-free production: although molecular oxygen can be effectively scavenged by silane, residual moisture remains in the atmosphere and may act as an additional oxidising species for highly reactive metals. High-purity titanium samples (99.995%) were exposed for 10 min to oxygen-free atmospheres with controlled water concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 ppm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyse the resulting changes in the titanium chemical states and to determine the corresponding oxide thickness. In laboratory-scale reaction-chamber experiments, reducing the water concentration from 0.8 ppm to 0.2 ppm reduced the oxide thickness from 0.38 ± 0.09 nm to 0.12 ± 0.09 nm. In a glove box operated under comparable oxygen-free conditions, reducing the water concentration from 1.0 ppm to 0.1 ppm reduced the oxide thickness from 0.61 ± 0.09 nm to 0.23 ± 0.12 nm, corresponding to a reduction of approximately 62%. These results demonstrate that residual water causes measurable oxidation of titanium even after molecular oxygen has been removed and that moisture concentration is therefore an important process parameter for oxygen-free production. The findings show that further optimisation of oxygen-free atmospheres for highly reactive metals requires not only efficient oxygen scavenging but also stringent control of residual moisture.
SN - 2666-5239
ER -