The Use and Application of Niobium

Iron Industry

About 85% to 90% of the world's niobium is used in iron and steel production in the form of ferroniobium. Only adding 0.03% to 0.05% of niobium to the steel can increase the yield strength of the steel by more than 30%. Niobium can also adjust the toughness level of steel in a wide range by inducing precipitation and controlling the cooling rate to achieve the dispersion distribution of precipitates. Therefore, adding niobium to steel can not only improve the strength of the steel, but also improve the toughness, high temperature oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance of the steel, reduce the brittle transition temperature of the steel, and make the steel have good weldability and formability.

Superconducting Materials Industry

Certain compounds and alloys of niobium have a high superconducting transition temperature, so they are widely used in the manufacture of various industrial superconductors, such as superconducting generators, high-power accelerator magnets, superconducting magnetic energy storage, MRI equipment, etc. . At present, the most important superconducting materials are niobium-titanium and niobium-tin, which are widely used in magnetic resonance imaging instruments for medical diagnosis and nuclear magnetic resonance instruments for spectral lines (analysis).

Atomic Energy Industry

Niobium has good thermal conductivity, high melting point, good corrosion resistance, and low neutron capture cross section, making it a very suitable material for atomic energy reactors. The main uses of niobium in the nuclear energy industry include: nuclear fuel cladding materials, nuclear fuel alloys, and structural materials for heat exchangers in nuclear reactors.

Electronics Industry

Niobate ceramics can be used to make capacitors. Compound single crystals such as lithium niobate and potassium niobate are new crystals for optoelectronics and electronics. They have good piezoelectric, pyroelectric and optical properties and are widely used in infrared, laser technology and in the electronics industry. In addition, niobium has a high melting point, strong ability to emit electrons, and has the ability to getter, which can be used to make electron tubes and other electric vacuum devices.

Medical Field

Niobium has good resistance to physiological corrosion and biocompatibility, does not interact with various liquid substances in the human body, and hardly damages biological tissues. It can adapt to any sterilization method, so it is often used in Manufacture of bone plates, skull plate bone screws, implant roots, surgical instruments, etc.

Others

In the chemical industry, niobium is a high-quality acid and liquid metal corrosion-resistant material, which can be used to make digesters, heaters, coolers, etc. In addition, niobic acid is also an important catalyst.

Niobium is also used in the foundry industry, its main function is to form hard carbides (good for wear resistance) and change the morphology and size of graphite sheets, so it is often used to manufacture automobile cylinder heads, piston rings and brake pads, etc. . In addition, niobium is sometimes used in commemorative coins along with gold and silver.

Niobium helps to increase the light transmission properties of lenses, so it is also used in the manufacture of lenses in the optical industry.

Niobium can also be used in the lighting industry. For example, the alloy of niobium and 1% zirconium can be used to make precision brackets for high-efficiency and high-strength sodium vapor street lamps, so that these small parts have high thermal strength, excellent formability and sodium vapor corrosion resistance. .