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Where would yttrium be harmful, if you happen to know?

• adrian_b 1y ago
  It is likely that most of the titanium deoxidized with yttrium would not be used as such, but it would be used for producing titanium alloys. For each kind of titanium alloy, depending on its chemical composition and on its intended crystal structure, yttrium may happen to be harmful or beneficial. Yttrium atoms are significantly bigger than titanium atoms. This can influence the crystal structure and the mechanical properties of the alloys, even with only a small percentage of residual yttrium. Almost pure non-alloyed titanium (which normally contains residual quantities of oxygen and iron) is used in applications where chemical resistance is more important than mechanical resistance, e.g. for medical implants, vessels and pipes exposed to various chemicals, spoons, metal parts that will be in contact with a human body, e.g. rings or bracelets etc. Yttrium may diminish somewhat the chemical resistance of titanium for such applications, but the resistance might still be adequate for many of these applications.