SPECIALFEATURE
S T R AT E G Y

Social Value Created byToho Titanium's Technological Capabilities

We will fulfill our mission of creating the "FourthPillar" and develop it into a business that leads toincreasing corporate value.

Achieving a Carbon-neutral
Society with the Power ofWEBTi Materials

As a company at the top of the commercial chain for material
manufacturers, we see WEBTi as a great opportunity to
showcase our advanced technological capabilities to the market.
We are confident that this product will not only generate profits,
but will also allow us to lead the way in decarbonization, which isan urgent social issue. We are also confident that this product willlead the way in increasing our corporate value by contributing toenergy innovation for the next generation.
Hydrogen is highly important from the perspective of energy
security, so we predict that demand for WEBTi will increase morethan 100 times its current level. However, as this is a developing
market, each customer has their own requirements, so there iscurrently no "correct answer" to all issues. Establishing a stablesupply system is also an issue. As a salespersonwith a technical background, I will coordinate thelaunch of new businesses from both technology
and marketing aspects, and strive to carry out
negotiations with European and US customers
quickly and with a high level of understanding. We
will establish the "Fourth Pillar" and contribute to
our leap forward as a sustainable company.

Our company has developed the "WEBTi" porous titanium sheet, a metallic titanium sheet with numerous microporous.
WEBTi is a new material that combines the characteristics of porous metals, such as liquid permeability and conductivity,
and the advantages of titanium having high corrosion resistance and strength. It is intended for use in electrode materials,diffusion layers, and filters in highly corrosive environments.
Particularly in recent years, it has been expected to be used as the anode side diffusion layer of a PEM (solid polymer
electrolyte membrane) water electrolysis generator, which is a type of hydrogen generator. Hydrogen generators are essential
to building a hydrogen-based society, which is expected to be one of the major solutions for reducing CO2 emissions. Wewill quickly conduct the implementation of WEBTi into PEM water electrolysis generators and contribute to CO2 reduction.

1) Ventilation/liquidpermeability2) E lectrical/
thermalconductivity3) Impact energy
absorbency4) L arge specificsurface area5) Unique texture1) H igh corrosion
resistance2) High strength3) A nodic
oxidation color
formation

WEBTi-T

WEBTi-S

Titanium
PowderTitanium
Fiber

Global hydrogen
demand(statistical results)

1 million kW
power plant*
Approximately

2020 270

90 million tons

Carbon neutrality is a rapidly accelerating movement mainly in Europe
and the United States. There is no doubt that hydrogen, the next
generation energy source, is essential to achieving this goal. What isparticularly sought after now is called "green hydrogen."Green hydrogen refers to completely carbon-free (no CO2emissions) hydrogen produced through water electrolysis using
renewable energy such as solar and wind power. Among the waterelectrolysis methods, the PEM water electrolysis method is said tobe the most compatible with renewable energy. It is an essential
technology for green hydrogen production, and various countries aremoving forward with many projects to popularize this water electrolysis
method. Replacing existing energy sources with hydrogen requiresa large amount of water electrolysis capacity, so demand for WEBTi,
which is used for this purpose, is expected to increase exponentially.
In order to capitalize on this trend, we have set the goal ofquickly launching the mass production of WEBTi, so our development,
manufacturing, and sales teams are working together to contribute to
the realization of a carbon-neutral society.

Grey hydrogen

Blue hydrogen

Green hydrogen

Fossil fuelFossil fuelRenewable energy

I N T E G R AT E D R E P O R T 2 0 2 3

alWEBTi-K(according toour research)

Collection / Savings /Utilization

Not emitted

Mass ProductionStageW

Global hydrogendemand(our estimate)2030

Realization ofa carbon-neutral society
1 million kW
power plant*
Approximately

2050 1500

500 million tons

A porous titanium sheet
made from titanium powder
paste. It is characterized by
its thin film thickness andsmall pore diameter, making
it a product with excellent
flexibility and smoothness.

Taking advantage of the unique properties of titanium

Types of HydrogenEmissions

Ti

WEBTi-K(smoothness)plants*Approximately equivalent to
one nuclear power plantusDevelopment
StageTitanium
PowderPaste

Titanium

Supporting "green hydrogen" production technology

23

As the transition to hydrogen energy and the development of waterelectrolysis generators progress, WEBTi has begun to attract attention
as one of the equipment materials. Considering the environmental impact
during hydrogen production, there are high expectations for WEBTi'spotential as the material is titanium, and high porosity is needed.

m M at e rita niu

Ti

Porous metalmaterials

New Materials Division
Porous Titanium Sheet Production & Development Group2023

Towards water electrolysis applications

We started development of the productas an electrode material.
We developed several prototypes. We
tried sample work but we were having
a hard time getting a feel for moving onto the next step.

Moving forward, we will focus on building a teamto overcome the mounting challenges. For ourmembers and cooperating departments who are
working hard under a lot of uncertainty, we would liketo achieve profitability as soon as possible and growour division into a profit center.

EB

We have begun development aimed at creating
new business areas by combining the wide rangeof possibilities for the application of porous metalmaterials and the excellent properties of titanium.

2018

Market Exploration

Since this is a product made using a new manufacturingmethod, we have to work very hard to maintain delivery dates,
quality, and production safety, while there are unexpectedfacility problems, and with productivity and yield not improving
as expected. In addition, creating a quality/production control
and facility maintenance scheme is also a major mission towardcommercialization.

Yosuke Inoue

New Materials Division
New Materials Planning & Sales GrouproDevelopment of Seeds

2008

About three years ago, inquiries about WEBTi for PEM waterelectrolysis applications increased rapidly, and the required
size and number of sheets expanded, leading to the startof production at a pilot facility. Currently, we are working on
developing technologies and creating systems to improve
production capacity and stabilize quality, as well as developing
next-generation porous titanium materials and cost-reducing
technologies.

Ryo Ishizuka

Po2004

We will work as a team to establish "high quality"and "stable production."plants*Approximately equivalent to
one nuclear power plant(according to our research)

PEM water electrolysis generator (hydrogen generator)

WEBTi was born in 2004 by combining the characteristics of titanium,
such as light weight, high strength, and high corrosion resistance, withthe characteristics of porous materials, such as high air permeability,
high specific surface area, and electrical/thermal conductivity.
Originally, we decided to develop it because of its potential as anelectrode material, and we were considering expanding it to various
specifications such as large voids and high strength, but unfortunately,
it was discontinued. However, now more than 10 years have passed,
it has attracted attention as a material for water electrolysis generatorsthat produce the next-generation energy source, "hydrogen", andespecially as a material for PEM water electrolysis methods.
In the PEM water electrolysis method, which has the opposite
mechanism to a fuel cell, the environment inside the equipment has
a large acidic load that ordinary metals cannot withstand. However,it became clear that WEBTi is a unique material that combines
titanium's high corrosion resistance with high air permeability, making
it ideal for water electrolysis generators, and that it cannot be replacedby other metals.

I N T E G R AT E D R E P O R T 2 0 2 3

Hydrogen production using water electrolysis
H 2O→2H ++1/2O 2
Strongly acidic
environment on theanode side

2H +→H 2

Green hydrogen→High corrosion
resistance oftitanium

CO2 emissions: ZeroOxygen generation
catalyst layer
Electrolyte membrane(H+ exchange membrane)

C cathode side PTL
Hydrogen generationcatalyst layer

24