Titanium is the hardest naturally-occurring metallic element and that’s why the human race loves it. It’s reliable and not toxic – that’s all we’re looking for in a metal.
However, scientists have found out that they can improve on that finding. Physicists at Rice University now claim that a titanium-gold alloy is not only harder than most steels but wear-resistant and highly bio-compatible. Emilia Morosan, the lead scientist on the study says that it’s four times harder than pure titanium and that it’ll find great purpose in medicine.
The researchers add that it will also be quite difficult to destroy the titanium-gold alloy. During an experiment, they have found out that it is resistant even to the hardest grinding equipment they could get.
Nevertheless, the team is planning on conducting follow-up tests to further investigate the crystal structure. Maybe it can harden even further!