Niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta), both of which are located in the area of excess elements of VB group, are important refractory rare metals. They have many excellent properties, such as high melting point, high boiling point, low steam pressure, good cold working performance, high chemical stability, strong resistance to liquid metal and acid and alkali corrosion, large dielectric constant of surface oxidation film, small thermal capture cross section of niobium, etc.
Although tantalum and niobium are similar in nature and can be replaced with each other in many application fields, their respective characteristics make tantalum more used in industries such as electronics, metallurgy, chemical industry and cemented carbide, and niobium bars more used in industrial superconducting technologies such as steel, ceramics and nuclear energy. In today's world, about 65 percent of tantalum is used in the electronics industry, and about 87 percent of niobium is used in the steel industry.
Niobium's most important use is as an alloying element to strengthen high-strength, low-alloy steel used in the manufacture of automobile and high-pressure gas pipelines. Another important role of niobium is in the use of high-temperature alloy components in aero gas turbine engines that require certain creep strength. Besides, niobium is also used to make stainless steel for car exhaust pipes and a superconducting niobium titanium alloy for MRI magnets.
Niobium is applied to steel production in the form of niobium rod. Only by adding 0.03% ~ 0.05% of niobium in the steel can the yield strength of the steel be increased by more than 30%. Niobium can also induce the precipitation and control the cooling rate to realize the dispersion distribution of the precipitate and adjust the toughness level of the steel in a wide range. Therefore, niobium can not only improve the strength of steel, but also improve the toughness, high temperature oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance of steel, reduce the brittle transition temperature of steel, and make steel have good welding performance and forming performance.
Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality niobium and related products to meet our customers' R&D and production needs. Please visit http://www.samaterials.com for more information.