Niobium - Import export

The grey shiny niobium is not unlike tantalum, which also has a very high melting temperature. A striking difference to tantalum is its much lower density. The pure metal is easy to process due to its low hardness. However, it becomes much harder and more brittle due to minor carbon impurities. Niobium is a relatively base element. When exposed to air, a protective oxide layer forms around the metal, which protects it from further corrosion and provides additional resistance. These wafer-thin oxide layers on the metal surface cause the coloured iridescence that occurs when heating a compact piece with a burner. Niobium powder is pyrophoric and can therefore ignite by itself. Glowing niobium powder reacts with oxygen to form niobium(V)-oxide. The compact metal resists most acids at room temperature. After heating, however, almost all acids are able to decompose the metal.

Niobium-titanium is the most frequently employed alloy for superconductors. It is also used in medical diagnostics, for example in Magnetic Resonance Imaging tomography. With MRI, cross-sectional images of the body can be made which often permit outstanding clinical assessment of the organs and many pathological organ changes. MRI employs magnetic fields, not x-rays. Magnets of niobium-titanium generate extremely strong magnetic fields when cooled to temperatures near absolute zero. They act as superconductors; current flows without resistance.

Tantalum and niobium combine high corrosion resistance with good mechanical properties. We supply them as is-materials or as semi-finished goods – e.g. sheets and plates, bars, wires and billets. Without superconductive niobium-titanium, the most modern medical diagnostic instrument – the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner – would not be possible. Niobium-tantalum plays a major role in modern material analytics. Further application areas for niobium-titanium and niobium-tantalum are magnets in particle physics research centres, as well as energy generation. Molybdenum is an important raw material in the photovoltaic industry.