The natural property of tantalum: tantalum has an atomic number of 73 and an atomic weight of 180. The element was discovered in 1802 by Swedish chemist erkberry tantalite, and it was isolated in 1903 by Russian chemist bolten. Tantalum is a rare metal found in 0.02 percent of the earth's crust.
The main minerals are tantalite, fine SPAR and so on. Tantalum has two natural isotopes: tantalum 180 and tantalum 181. Tantalum is a black gray metal, malleable, with a melting point of 2996 degrees Celsius, a boiling point of 5425 degrees Celsius and a density of 16.6 grams per centimeter.
Niobium is the main additive in steel. The addition of niobium into microalloy steel can refine the grain of steel and improve the strength and toughness of steel. About 75% niobium is applied in this field. Niobium is used as a superconducting material: nb-ti alloy is a superconducting material with wide application and amount * at present, such as Nb47Ti, which has an important application in high energy physics and is a practical superconducting material preferred by high-energy particle accelerators such as large hadron collider and heavy ion collider. Nb3Sn is a practical superconducting material next only to Nb-Ti.
Tantalum oxide and niobium oxide are raw materials for tantalum niobium artificial crystals :Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 are raw materials for LT and LN crystals. LT and LN are important piezoelectric, thermoelectric and nonlinear optical materials, which have important applications in the fields of laser and micro-acoustic surface wave. Application of niobium in atomic energy industry :Nb has small neutron capture cross section, high thermal conductivity and strength, and is used as fuel envelope material, fuel alloy additive and heat exchanger structure material in nuclear reactor.
Other applications: cathode sputtering tantalum coating, tantalum active material for high vacuum suction pump, Nb2O5 and Ta2O5 as optical glass modifier and chemical catalyst, Ta, Nb application in medical equipment and arts and crafts, etc.
