Metal powder

Metal broken down to powder form

Iron powder

Metal powder is a metal that has been broken down into a powder form. Metals that can be found in powder form include aluminium powder, nickel powder, iron powder and many more.[1][2][3][4][5] There are four different ways metals can be broken down into this powder form:[6]

* Direct reduction
* Gas atomization
* Ultrasonic atomization
* Liquid atomization
* Centrifugal atomization

## Processes

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The following processes can be used to produce metal powder:[6]

1. Direct reduction is the result of blending carbon with iron oxide ore, heating the mixture, removing the sponge iron from the carbon, grinding it, annealing it, and regrinding to make the powder form usable for manufacturing.
2. Gas atomization occurs when a molten metal is passed through a passageway to a gas-filled chamber that cools the metal. As it falls, it is collected and annealed into a powder.
3. Ultrasonic atomization uses high-frequency sound waves to break molten metal into uniformly spherical droplets. It offers precise particle size control, low contamination, high powder quality, and allows production with no minimum batch size. The equipment is typically compact, making it suitable for use in space-constrained environments.
4. Liquid atomization is similar to gas atomization, but instead the metal is sprayed with high-pressure liquid which solidifies the droplets more rapidly. This results in the powder being more porous, smaller, and cleaner.
5. Centrifugal atomization occurs when a metal is put into a chamber as a rod and electrically melted, at the end of the rod, to produce melted droplets that fall into another chamber and then solidify.

## Types and Uses

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Back in the early 1900's, metal powder was the currency used in the United States of America.[citation needed] Depending on the market, metal powder can be more valuable than gold. The following are the types and uses of metal powder:[7]

* Aluminum powder: Fireworks, metallic paints, manufacturing in solar cells in the green energy sector
* Bismuth powder: Production of batteries, welding rods, creating alloys
* Cadmium powder: Glazed used on ceramics, transparent conductors, nickel-cadmium batteries
* Iron powder: Magnetic products, printing, brake pads, certain types of dyes and stains
* Nickel powder: used for corrosion resistance, such as in the marine industry

* Raney nickel: used as a catalyst

* Platinum black: used as a catalyst
* Titanium powder: used in aerospace applications,  medical implants and sporting goods.[8]

## See also

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* Metal swarf
* Powder metallurgy
* Pressing
* Sintering

## References

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1. ^ Arnold R. Poster (1966), Handbook of Metal Powders
2. ^ Alan Lawley (1992), Atomization: the production of metal powders, Metal Powder Industries Federation, ISBN 1878954156
3. ^ Joseph M Capus (2005), Metal Powders, Elsevier, ISBN 0080536328
4. ^ Oleg D Neikov; Stanislav Naboychenko; Irina B Mourachova (2009), Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders, Elsevier, ISBN 978-0080559407
5. ^ Stojan S. Djoki (2012), Electrochemical Production of Metal Powders, ISBN 978-1461423805
6. ^ a b "Manufacturing Metal Powder". AZoNano.com. 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
7. ^ "Common Uses for Powdered Metals". Belmont Metals. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
8. ^ "The Essential List of Metal Alloy Powders". Stanford Advanced Materials. Retrieved Oct 7, 2024.

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