The material consists mainly of hafnium carbide and nitride and has a melting point of 4,400 kelvin. Before this, the most difficult material to melt in the world was tetrahydride tantalum and hafnium pentacarbide (Ta4HfC5), which has the highest melting point of any known compound at 4,200 kelvin. It can be considered by the tantalum carbide, melting point 3983 ℃) and hafnium carbide (melting point 3928 ℃) these two kinds of binary compounds. In 2015, foreign countries sold powder tantalum and hafnium, which is 99 percent pure and about 45 microns in size, for $9,540 per kilogram.
The research team at the institute of chemistry used pulsed flame sintering to produce the powder mixture. Institute of atomic energy, school of natural science, federal university of the Russian far east, was founded in 2016, specializing in the application of new materials in military industry, aerospace, biomedicine, nuclear waste safety treatment, ecological environment monitoring and other fields. The next step of scientific research is to optimize the synthesis of the material and further study the solid phase transition process.
This kind of high temperature functional material will be mainly used in the national defense military industry, aerospace, electronic information, energy, chemical prevention, metallurgy and nuclear industry and other cutting-edge fields, has a very good application prospect. Tantalum can be used as the combustor material in aircraft engines. Tantalum tungsten, tantalum tungsten hafnium and tantalum hafnium alloys are used as heat-resistant and high-strength materials for rockets, missiles and jet engines as well as parts for control and adjustment equipment. Tantalum is easily machined and formed, used as supporting accessories, heat shield, heater and heat sink in high temperature vacuum furnace. Tantalum can be used as orthopedic and surgical materials. For example, tantalum bars can be used to replace the bones and muscles in the human body, and it will grow on the bars, so it has a "bio-friendly metal". Tantalum carbide is used in the manufacture of hard alloys. The borides, silicides, nitrides and their alloys of tantalum are used as heat release elements and liquid metal sheath materials in the atomic energy industry. Tantalum oxide is used in the manufacture of advanced optical glass and catalysts. In 1981, the proportion of tantalum consumed in various sectors in the United States was approximately 73% for electronic components, 19% for the machinery industry, 6% for transportation, and 2% for other industries.
