How to Color Titanium

Last Updated: December 23, 2021

This simple guide describes how to anodize titanium. Colorize sheets of titanium to create permanent, metal artwork. Titanium is valued for its weather resistance and durability, but it is also valued by artists for its beauty and colors when oxidized. All it takes is a thin, transparent layer of oxide to create color on the surface. This process of wave interference occurs when light reflecting off of the coating collides with light reflected off of the titanium surface.

Steps

1
Coat the titanium in phosphoric acid (cola will do). This is easily done by filling a paint roller's pan (or a shallow tub) with cola, then dipping the titanium into the pan.
2
Attach a wire to the titanium with a clip, then attach a battery (or multiple batteries) to the wire.

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3
Attach another wire to the paint brush, then attach the same batteries to this wire. It does not matter if the batteries' positive or negative terminals is attached to the titanium or brush, as long as current flows in one direction.
4
Fill a jar with cola, then dip the paint brush to coat it in cola.
5
Experiment with various voltages to achieve different colors

Community Q&A

Question

At what voltage can I get a copper color of titanium?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

There is no real way to get a 'copper' color, but a bronze/brown is 20 volts.

Warnings

The colors are permanent and will not fade in sunlight or other weather.

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Do not leave the positive terminal of your batteries connected to the titanium or brush for extended periods of time, as this will very slowly drain the battery.

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Voltages as low as 30 V can kill. Use rubber gloves and lots of caution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_shock

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