Tantalum is a hard, ductile and acid resistant, highly conductive metal with a density of 16.65g/cm3. Tantalum has a high melting temperature of 3020°C. Tantalum is often used as an alloy additive and is often combined with niobium to improve the corrosion resistance of niobium. When mixed with metals such as niobium, tantalum is extremely resistant to a variety of corrosive environments, including inorganic acids, most organic acids, liquid metals, and most salts. Tantalum is used in aerospace, chemical processing, medical, superconducting and electronics markets.
In a non-restrictive embodiment, a method for manufacturing tantalum alloys includes thermite reaction using a reactant mixture consisting of: tantalum pentoxide powder; The least of iron oxide (III) powder and copper oxide (II) powder; Barium peroxide powder; Aluminum metal powder; And at least one of niobium pentoxide powder, tungsten metal powder and tungsten trioxide powder.
In another non-restrictive embodiment, the manufacture of tantalum alloys involves placing the reactant mixture in a reactive vessel. The reactant mixture comprises: tantalum pentoxide powder; At least one of iron oxide (III) powder and copper oxide (II) powder; Barium peroxide powder; Aluminum metal powder; And at least one of niobium pentoxide powder, tungsten metal powder and tungsten trioxide powder. Initiates thermite reactions between components of the reactant mixture.
In another non-restrictive implementation, the fabrication of tantalum alloys involves the formation of a reactant mixture containing tantalum pentoxide powder, ferric oxide (III) powder, copper oxide (II) powder, barium peroxide powder, aluminum metal powder and tungsten gold powder. Place the magnesium oxide powder layer on at least the bottom surface of the graphite reaction vessel. The reactant mixture is placed on top of a magnesium oxide powder layer in a graphite reaction vessel. The tantalum or tantalum alloy ignition wire is placed in contact with the reactant mixture.
