Tantalum Wire – Magic Metal Tantalum

Is Tantalum Wire a Good Electrical Conductor?

When it comes to electrical conductivity, different materials exhibit varying degrees of efficiency in the transmission of electric current. Tantalum, a rare and lustrous transition metal, is widely recognized for its exceptional properties and finds extensive use in numerous industries. However, when considering its electrical conductivity, it is essential to evaluate tantalum wire’s performance and suitability for electrical applications.

Tantalum is renowned for its corrosion resistance, high melting point, and excellent biocompatibility, which makes it a preferred choice in applications ranging from electronics to medical devices. However, in terms of electrical conductivity, tantalum falls behind some other metals commonly used as conductors, such as copper and aluminum.

Compared to highly conductive metals like copper, tantalum possesses a relatively lower electrical conductivity. Copper, with its exceptional conductivity, has long been the standard choice for electrical wiring and conductors due to its low resistance and efficient current flow. Aluminum, while not as conductive as copper, is still widely used in various electrical applications due to its lightweight and cost-effective nature.

In contrast, tantalum has a higher resistivity than copper and aluminum, resulting in increased resistance to the flow of electric current. This higher resistance can lead to power loss and heat generation, making tantalum less efficient for applications where minimizing electrical resistance is crucial. However, it is worth noting that tantalum’s resistivity is still significantly lower than that of some insulating materials, making it a viable conductor in certain scenarios.

Despite its lower conductivity compared to copper and aluminum, tantalum wire possesses distinct advantages that make it desirable for specific applications. Tantalum’s exceptional resistance to corrosion, particularly in aggressive environments, makes it an excellent choice for components exposed to corrosive chemicals or high-temperature conditions. Additionally, tantalum’s high melting point and good mechanical strength contribute to its suitability in applications requiring robust and durable conductors.

Tantalum wire finds significant utilization in the electronics industry, where its corrosion resistance and stability at high temperatures are paramount. It is commonly employed in capacitors, resistors, and other components where reliability and longevity are critical. Tantalum’s ability to form a protective oxide layer, which enhances its resistance to corrosion, further reinforces its usefulness in electronic devices.

Moreover, tantalum wire finds applications in the medical field, specifically for implantable devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, and hearing aids. Its biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and stability make it an ideal choice for such critical and long-term applications.

In summary, while tantalum wire may not possess the same level of electrical conductivity as copper or aluminum, its unique properties make it a valuable material for specific applications. Its corrosion resistance, high melting point, and biocompatibility make tantalum wire an excellent choice in industries where these characteristics are vital, such as electronics and medical devices.

Ultimately, when evaluating the suitability of tantalum wire as an electrical conductor, it is crucial to consider the specific requirements of the application at hand. Factors like corrosion resistance, temperature stability, and mechanical strength may outweigh the slightly lower electrical conductivity, making tantalum wire an excellent choice for specific niche applications where its exceptional properties shine.

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Why is Tantalum So Valuable?

Properties of tantalum

Tantalum has a series of excellent characteristics such as a high melting point, low vapor pressure, good cold processing performance, high chemical stability, strong resistance to liquid metal and acid and alkali corrosion, and large dielectric constant of the surface oxide film, which makes it an important modern functional material.

Tantalum rapidly generates a surface oxide film that closely covers its metallic substrate in almost any environment, which is extremely thin and dense, impervious to almost all media, and self-healing once damaged. Thanks to this excellent protective film, tantalum has extremely good corrosion resistance. Except for fluorine, hydrofluoric acid, acidic solutions containing fluorine ions, fuming nitric acid, and strong alkalis, tantalum is impervious to corrosion in most media.

The main uses of tantalum

In the electronics industry, tantalum is mainly used as tantalum capacitors, which are usually applied in the form of capacitor-grade tantalum powder, tantalum wire, and tantalum foil. Tantalum capacitors are indispensable electronic components for radar, spacecraft, and missiles, and are widely used in civil applications such as mobile communication, electronic equipment, and instruments.

Tantalum powder can be made into small and large capacity capacitors because of its large specific surface area and large dielectric constant of the dielectric film, and therefore large capacity.

Electrolytic capacitors made of tantalum have the advantages of small size, lightweight, good reliability, large operating temperature range, shock resistance, and long service life. Tantalum electrolytic capacitors can be divided into solid electrolyte capacitors and liquid electrolyte capacitors according to their electrolytic degree.

Tantalum electrolytic capacitor

Capacitors can be distinguished by the form of their anodes, there are mainly two kinds of tantalum foil anodes and tantalum powder sintered anodes. Tantalum wire is used as the anode lead for these two types of capacitors. The development of the electronics industry is demanding more and more miniaturization and high reliability of tantalum capacitors. In the miniaturization of tantalum capacitors and chip types, efforts are made to increase the specific capacity of tantalum powder.

Tantalum is also used as a material for electronic tubes. Due to its high melting point, low vapor pressure, good processing properties, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and excellent gas absorption, tantalum is a good material for emitter tubes and high-power electron tube parts. Due to its high chemical stability, tantalum target is an important material for the magneto-space sputtering coating of electronic chips.

Tantalum carbide is a refractory metal, which occupies an extremely important position in cemented carbide industrial applications. Like the ceramic carbides of WC, TiC, and metallic cobalt, TaC has excellent wear resistance, toughness, hardness, and stability.

There are two types of tantalum carbide use: one is to add tantalum carbide directly to WC-Co or WC-TiC-Co alloy in small amounts, which plays a role in controlling grain growth, etc.; the other is to form a solid solution with niobium carbide or other carbides, which can improve the high-temperature hardness, high-temperature strength and oxidation resistance of the alloy, greatly improving cutting speed and extending tool life.

Ceramic carbide has excellent cutting performance, generally composed of α, γ, β three phases. α phase is tungsten carbide; β phase is the metal phase binder, metal cobalt is the most commonly used binder for ceramic carbide; γ phase is the solid solution formed by TaC, NbC, and TiC, γ phase is dissolved in tungsten carbide, its role is as a crystal generation inhibitor.

The deep processing of tantalum and its application

Tantalum has very good plasticity and is extremely easy to be processed plastic. Various industrial profiles (tantalum tube, tantalum rod, tantalum wire, tantalum strip) can be produced by using conventional processing processes (extrusion, forging, rolling, and drawing). Tantalum and tantalum alloy molten ingots have a coarse grain organization and must first be extruded or hot-forged to open the billet and break the grains before they can be further processed into the material.

Pure tantalum can be forged at room temperature to open the billet, tantalum alloy open billet temperature is generally 1100- l200 ℃. During processing, the oxidation of the tantalum alloy surface generates loose oxides and can penetrate into the alloy matrix, forming a hard permeable layer that cracks during processing. Therefore, it is important to try to protect the metal surface from oxidation during the entire machining process.

Currently, tantalum blanks are protected by salt bath heating, coating, jacketing, inert gas protection, etc. The extrusion method can produce metal tubes, bars, and profiles of different sizes; tantalum ingots can be directly forged into rolled slabs. Glass coating can be used as a lubricant; rolling of tantalum alloy plates, usually using two-roll or four-roll mills, with deformation of 10% and 15%, and total deformation of 70% and 80% when rolling 2.5mm thin plates. When rolling a 2.5mm thin plate, kerosene or palm oil is used as a lubricant.

Tantalum Capacitors in the Military Industry

Why is tantalum so popular?

The most important use of tantalum is the manufacture of electronic components, especially capacitors. 50%-70% of the world’s tantalum is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors, mainly in the form of capacitor-grade tantalum powder and tantalum wire.
Because tantalum forms a dense, stable, amorphous oxide film with high dielectric strength on its surface, it forms a stable anodic oxide film in acidic electrolytes and is easy to process.

At the same time, tantalum powder sintered blocks can obtain a large surface area in a small volume, so tantalum capacitors have a series of excellent properties such as high capacitance, low leakage current, and low equivalent series resistance, good high and low-temperature characteristics, and long service life.

Tantalum Capacitors in the Military Industry

A tantalum capacitor is called a tantalum electrolytic capacitor, which is also a kind of electrolytic capacitor, using tantalum metal as the dielectric, hence the name.

The tantalum capacitor was firstly developed by Bell Labs in 1956, and it is a passive component with a small volume and large capacity capacitor.

Tantalum capacitors’ downstream applications can be divided into two categories: military and civilian. The military field includes aviation, spaceflight, ships, weapons, and electronic countermeasures, while the civil field includes consumer electronics, industrial control, electric power equipment, new energy, communication equipment, rail transportation, medical electronics, and automotive electronics. As an essential basic electronic component in electronic circuits, capacitor products are widely used in the military and civilian fields.

Military capacitors are mainly ceramic capacitors and tantalum capacitors. The development of the military electronics industry is especially important in the context of the information-based military. It is widely used in communications, computers, automobiles, electrical appliances, aerospace, national defense, and other industrial and scientific sectors.

What is the Trend of Ta & Nb Market?

The atomic sequences of tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb) are 73 and 41, respectively, both of which are located in the VB family of excessive elements. They are often symbiotic in nature and are important refractory rare metals. They look like steel, with off-white luster, and the powder is dark gray. They have excellent properties, including a high melting point, high boiling point, low vapor pressure, good cold workability, high chemical stability, strong resistance to liquid metal and acid and alkali corrosion, and high dielectric constant of the surface oxide film, etc.

Tantalum and niobium metals and their compounds and alloys are important functional materials, which has important applications in the technical fields of electronics, steel, metallurgy, chemicals, hard alloys, atomic energy, aerospace, and other industrial sectors as well as strategic weapons, superconducting technology, scientific research, medical devices and so on.

Applications of tantalum and niobium

Tantalum and niobium are similar in nature and can be replaced in many application areas. However, their respective characteristics have led to the use of tantalum in industries such as electronics, metallurgy, chemicals, and hard alloys.

Electrolytic capacitors made of tantalum metals in the electronics industry have outstanding characteristics such as large capacitance, small leakage current, good stability, high reliability, good pressure resistance, long life, and small volume. They are widely used in national defense, aviation and aerospace, electronic computers, high-end civilian electrical appliances, and electronic circuits of various electronic instruments. Niobium is used in industrial-grade superconducting technology such as steel, ceramics, and nuclear energy.

In today’s world, about 65% of the total tantalum is used in the electronics industry, and about 87% of the total niobium is used in the steel industry. With the advancement of technology, the application fields of tantalum and niobium and their alloys and processed materials will continue to expand.

Tantalum can store and release energy, which is indispensable in the electronics industry, so tantalum capacitors consume more than half of the world’s mine production.

The tantalum-based components can be made very small, and other chemical elements cannot be used as substitutes without degrading the performance of the electronic device, so tantalum is almost ubiquitous as a component application, such as mobile phones, a hard disks, and a hearing aid.

In the chemical industry, the corrosion resistance of tantalum is very good and it is used as a lining for pipelines and tanks. Tantalum carbide has a high hardness and is an ideal material for manufacturing cutting tools, and tantalum oxide can increase the refractive index of glass lenses.

Current supply and demand situation

Before the end of 2011, the industry was generally operating in a benign environment. The front end of tantalum niobium production has a large space, the intermediate wet smelting and fire smelting also have a certain profit, and the back end high specific volume of tantalum powder and tantalum wire production and sales market also has a large operation space. However, since the second half of 2012, with the emergence of the global financial crisis, such applications as tantalum niobium are relatively narrow and the consumer sector has been greatly affected by the high-end electronic products industry.

The trend of the tantalum niobium market

At present, the production in the tantalum niobium industry is mainly based on wet smelting and pyrometallurgical smelting. The products produced are mainly potassium fluoroantimonate, antimony oxide, antimony oxide, antimony carbide, antimony wire, metallurgical grade tantalum powder, and some coffin materials.

At present, the domestic demand for tantalum niobium is 800~1000 tons, and the national production capacity is about 140~150 tons. Most of the rest of the raw materials are all dependent on African imports.

Most of the exported antimony mines in Africa are also known as “African blood mines”, which refer to war-plunging low-cost minerals that are arbitrarily harvested and dug in the African region at the expense of polluting the environment and destroying resources. African mines are affected by the instability of the regional political and economic environment and have greater volatility. Its products contain high levels of unfavorable elements such as antimony, uranium, and thorium, which have certain adverse effects on product quality and environmental protection requirements of downstream products; Moreover, the delivery period of the mine is long and the safety cannot be fully guaranteed. To this end, the International Electron Association has classified it as a source of minerals that are not allowed to enter the normal market.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality tantalum niobium products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit https://www.samaterials.com/ for more information.

Processing Technology of Tantalum Bar to Wire

The production of tantalum wire is usually carried out by powder metallurgy or another isostatic pressing, vacuum sintering to obtain a tantalum rod, followed by cold rolling and surface cleaning to obtain a tantalum strip, and then the wire is obtained by surface oxidation coating, stretching, pickling, water washing, and annealing. The processing process of the tantalum bar to wire includes the following steps.

Isostatic molding

The chemical composition of the tantalum powder raw material for preparing the tantalum should meet the specified requirements, and the particle size distribution should satisfy the requirement that 100% is less than 0.074 m, and the content of less than 0.038 m (400) is not less than 60%. The bar blank after press forming requires no defects on the surface, no cracks, and has a certain strength, reaching 70% of the theoretical density.

Vacuum sintering

Usually, the melt sintering is performed, the sintering vacuum should be less than 0.133Pa, and the highest sintering temperature should be controlled within 2600 °C. Generally, after two times of vertical melting and sintering, the relative density of the tantalum can reach about 98%, and the surface of the tantalum is required to be smooth, without cracks, melted tumor knots, and bubbling.

Cold rolling

The production of tantalum wire and the forging of tantalum bars are generally carried out by cold rolling. It can be used as a manufacturing process before die forging, or it can be directly rolled into an ingot. Roll forging is a process in which a tantalum rod is passed through a pair of rotating wrought rolls equipped with circular arc dies, and plastically deformed by means of a cavity to obtain the desired ingot.

Anodizing

The purpose of anodizing is to uniformly coat an oxide film on the surface of the tantalum ingot (wire). As a carrier of the lubricant, the oxide film can uniformly and firmly adhere the lubricant, which can reduce the tensile friction coefficient, ensure the surface quality of the silk, and cannot directly contact the metal and the mold, then prevent the bonding and improve the tensile performance.

The standard of the oxide film is that the adhesion is strong, the micro-tightness is firm, the color is not easy to fall off, the thickness is uniform, the insulation is good, the residual current is small, and the surface is less crystalline.

Stretching

Stretching is a major process in the production of tantalum wire. The choice of lubricant, drawing die, stretching pass, and stretching speed will directly affect the quality of the wire. The stretching of tantalum is divided into thick wire and fine wire. Solid wax is generally used as a lubricant for roughening the thick tantalum wire with an oxide film, and an aqueous solution of grease soap is generally used as a lubricant when the tantalum wire with oxide film is finely drawn. The tensile die has cemented carbide and diamond, the latter is better but more expensive. The processing rate of the stretching pass depends mainly on the quality of the oxide film and the quality of the lubricant.

The surface of the wire after stretching is stuck with oil and residual oxide film, so it is necessary to clean the surface with acid and then with pure water. For the fine wire, the acidity of the pickling and the pickling time is strictly controlled. When the oxygen content and the surface brightness are good, the acidity and pickling time should be minimized.

Vacuum annealing

Annealing of the tantalum wire includes two parts, intermediate annealing and finished annealing. The purpose of intermediate annealing is to eliminate work hardening and improve the processing plasticity of the wire to continue stretching, while annealing is to achieve the desired properties of the finished product.

Tantalum has good plasticity at room temperature, and the work hardening tendency at room temperature is not large. The practice has shown that the billet produced by powder metallurgy can be processed until the total deformation rate is about 95%; the total deformation rate of the extruded billet by electron beam melting and consumable arc melting can reach more than 99%. After the recrystallization annealing, the plasticity of tantalum at room temperature is completely recovered.

Wire rewinding

In order to facilitate the material leaving the factory after the wire has been annealed, it is generally necessary to rewind on a certain winding machine. When rewinding, it is necessary to prevent the surface from being stained or scratched and to prevent twisting.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality tantalum products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit https://www.samaterials.com/ for more information.

Super Performances of Tantalum in the Electronics & Aerospace Industries

Tantalum has a series of excellent properties, such as high melting point, low vapor pressure, good cold processing performance, high chemical stability, as well as strong resistance to liquid metal corrosion, etc., it has important applications in high and new technology fields such as electronics, metallurgy, superconducting technology, automobile electronics, aerospace, medical treatment, and scientific research. The following is a brief introduction to the superb performances of tantalum in the electronics and aerospace industries.

Electronics industry

In the electronic industry, tantalum is mainly used as tantalum capacitors, which are usually used in the form of capacitor-grade tantalum powder, tantalum wire, and tantalum foil. A tantalum capacitor is one of the indispensable electronic components of radar, aerospace aircraft and missiles, and it is widely used for civil use, such as mobile communication, electronic equipment, and instruments.

As the specific surface area of tantalum powder is large, the dielectric constant of the thin film of the dielectric body is large, so the capacitance is large, then the small large-capacity capacitors can be made. The electrolytic capacitors made of tantalum have the advantages of small size, lightweight, good reliability, wide operating temperature range, and long service life.

Tantalum electrolytic capacitors can be classified into solid electrolytic capacitors and liquid electrolytic capacitors, and they are mainly divided into two anode types: foil anode and sintered anode. Tantalum wire is used as the anode lead for both capacitors.

With the development of the electronic industry, the miniaturization and high reliability of tantalum capacitors are becoming increasingly strict. At present, the international commercial specific capacity of tantalum powder has reached more than 150,000 mu.F•V/g, and the laboratory has reached 30,000 mu.F•V/g.

Tantalum is also used as a material for electron tubes. Due to its high melting point, low real gas pressure, good processing performance, small linear expansion coefficient, and good inspiratory property, tantalum is a good material for launching tube and high-power electron tube parts.

Besides the above, tantalum target is an important material for magnetron sputtering coating of electronic chips due to its high chemical stability. You may check out more information at the specialized target website.

Aerospace industry

In addition to a large number of tantalum capacitors used in the aerospace industry, tantalum is also mainly used in high-temperature alloy and tantalum matrix heat-resistant alloy in the aerospace industry, especially in engines. High-performance alloys such as superalloy, corrosion-resistant alloy, and wear-resistant alloy can be made by adding tantalum to nickel base, cobalt base, and iron-base alloys.

Compared with niobium superalloy, tantalum superalloy has superior performance, higher heat resistance, and greater stress load. These alloys are mainly used as heat-resistant and high-strength structural materials for supersonic aircraft, solid propellant rockets, and missiles, as well as parts for control and adjustment devices. For example, the combustion chamber of the American Ajina Spacecraft is made of ta-10w alloy, and the flame temperature is very high (up to 2760℃) when its cover is small.

The aerospace industry is the second largest user of niobium and tantalum. Niobium and tantalum alloys, especially their superalloys and heat-resistant alloys based on them, are indispensable supporting materials for hot components of aircraft jet engines, rockets, spacecraft, and other vehicles.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality tantalum products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit https://www.samaterials.com/ for more information.

What is the Prospect of New Tantalum Niobium Materials?

Rare metal material technology is one of the most important subjects in the field of material science and engineering in the new century, and it is the key material for the development of high and new technology, while tantalum niobium material plays an important role in this process. The development of modern high technology, such as information technology, new energy technology, space technology, biological technology, and superconducting technology, is closely related to rare metal materials, especially tantalum and niobium.

Tantalum niobium materials have more and more development space in the field of high technology. Firstly, tantalum and niobium capacitors are expanded to the high-capacity field. Secondly, the cutting tools of cemented carbide are developing towards the direction of the super hard and fine tip, and the application market is expected to keep a steady climb. Thirdly, tantalum-niobium is applied in the aerospace industry, and tantalum-niobium alloys and other special alloys will continue to be developed steadily.

In recent years, the demand for special niobium steel continues to grow. Special superconducting materials will be widely used in magnet materials and high and new computing technologies, and are being further developed. New applications of tantalum and niobium materials will be developed continuously. According to the development process of the world’s high-tech industry, the tantalum and niobium industry will continue to grow by more than 12% in the next 5-10 years.

Main products and functional properties

At present, the main products of the tantalum and niobium industry include tantalum powder (capacitor grade, metallurgical grade), tantalum wire, tantalum carbide, tantalum, and tantalum alloy ingots, tantalum and tantalum alloy processing materials (tantalum plate, strip, tube, bar, wire), tantalum target material, tantalum oxide (industrial, optical glass, high purity), lithium tantalate single crystal; Niobium powder (capacitor grade, metallurgical grade) niobium sheet, niobium and its alloy ingots, niobium and its alloy adding materials (plate, strip, tube, rod, wire), niobium oxide (electrical grade, industrial, light glass, high purity), niobium carbide, lithium niobate single crystal, niobium and its alloy superconducting materials, etc.

About 60% of the world’s tantalum is used to make tantalum capacitors. Tantalum powder and wire are the key materials for manufacturing tantalum capacitors, which are widely used in mobile phones, computers, digital products, automobiles, aerospace electronics, and other fields. Tantalum and niobium targets are used in semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display technology, niobium oxide, niobium powder, and niobium wire are used in manufacturing ceramic capacitors and niobium capacitors.

Superalloys can be produced by adding tantalum or niobium to tungsten, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, vanadium and iron-based alloys or by adding other metal elements to tantalum and niobium. Superalloys are important structural materials for aerospace engines, land-based airflow turbine engines, modern weapons, and harsh industrial environment facilities. Tools and drill tools made of carbides such as tantalum carbide and niobium carbide can withstand a high temperature of nearly 3000℃, and their hardness can be comparable with diamond.

Since niobium and tantalum have good superconductivity, adding niobium and tantalum into the materials used for making wires and cables can greatly reduce the loss of electric energy and thus save electric energy. Tantalum niobium is a high-quality material resistant to acid and liquid metal corrosion. It can be used in digesters, heaters, coolers, and various devices and utensils in the chemical industry. In addition, the tantalum niobium and its alloy can also be used as nuclear reactor cladding materials and high-energy physics superconducting devices. Moreover, tantalum is ideal bio-adaptive material and is widely used in medical surgery.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality tantalum niobium products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit http://www.samaterials.com for more information.

Tantalum VS Niobium

Tantalum and niobium belong to one family in the periodic table. Due to their similar physical and chemical properties, as well as growing together in the same ore body, they are known as the twin of metals.

Tantalum and niobium were discovered in 1801 and 1802 by Charles Hatchett, a British chemist, and Ekberg, a Swedish chemist. Tantalum niobium ore is the main ore of tantalum and niobium, and a small amount of tantalum and niobium exist in tungsten and some rare earth ores.

Properties

Tantalum and niobium are both high-melting metals with melting points of 2996℃ and 2468℃ respectively. Tantalum and niobium have very stable chemical properties, not only insoluble in nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid, but also insoluble in aqua regia. Tantalum is malleable and can be pulled into strands thinner than human hair or rolled into foil thinner than paper. Tantalum and niobium are both excellent superconducting materials with characteristics of compression and wear resistance.

Applications

Tantalum and niobium are widely used in various fields because of their excellent properties mentioned above.

1. Capacitor

Tantalum can form a compact and stable amorphous oxide film with high dielectric strength, so it is easy to control the anodic oxidation process of the capacitor accurately and conveniently. Tantalum powder sintered blocks can obtain a large surface area in a small volume, so tantalum capacitors are the most excellent capacitors with small volume, large capacity, low leakage current, long service life, and excellent comprehensive performance. Under normal conditions, tantalum capacitors are smaller in size, higher in capacity, and more stable in function than ceramic capacitors, aluminum capacitors, and thin-film capacitors.

Tantalum capacitors have excellent characteristics that cannot be compared with many other capacitors. In the field of microelectronics science and surface mount technology, there is almost no other equivalent capacitor to compete with them. Therefore, 60~ 65% of tantalum is used in the manufacture of tantalum capacitors in the form of capacitor grade tantalum powder and tantalum wire.

Compared with tantalum, the main disadvantages of niobium capacitors are large leakage current (generally 5-10 times of tantalum), low breakdown voltage (< 10V), and low operating temperature (< 105℃), which are not suitable for capacitors with high-reliability requirements and high rated voltage. However, in the range of low voltage (< 10V) and large capacity (> 100muf), niobium capacitors may partially replace tantalum capacitors of the same level.

2. Metallurgical industry

In the metallurgical industry, niobium is mainly used to manufacture high-temperature resistant alloy steel and improve the strength of steel. In the smelting of carbon steel, the strength of the steel can be increased by more than one-third by adding only a few parts per million of niobium. Superalloys made of niobium, tantalum, tungsten, aluminum, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, and other metals are good structural materials for supersonic jet aircraft, rockets, and missiles.

3. Mechanical industry

In the mechanical industry, the cutting tool made of carbides such as niobium carbide and tantalum carbide can withstand a high temperature of nearly 3000℃, and its hardness can be comparable with that of the diamond, the hardest substance in the world.

4. Biomedical industry

Tantalum is an ideal bio-adaptive material in medicine. When it comes in direct contact with human bones, muscle tissues, and fluids, it can adapt to biological cells and has an excellent affinity with almost no human stimulation and side effects. Tantalum can not only be used to make bone plates, screws and clamping rods for fracture treatment, but also can be directly used to repair bones with tantalum plates and pieces and replace broken bones due to trauma with tantalum strips. Tantalum wire and foil can be used to suture nerves, muscles and blood vessels above 1.5 mm, while the extremely thin tantalum wire can replace tendons and even nerve fibers.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality tantalum and niobium products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit http://www.samaterials.com for more information.

Why Do Electrolytic Capacitors Explode?

If you want to know why the electrolytic capacitor explodes, first you have to know what the electrolytic capacitor is. An electrolytic capacitor is a kind of capacitance. The metal foil is the positive electrode (aluminum foil or tantalum foil), and the oxide film (aluminum oxide or tantalum oxide), which is closely attached to the metal, is the dielectric. The cathode consists of conductive material, electrolyte (which can be liquid or solid), and other materials. Because the electrolyte is the main part of the cathode, the electrolytic capacitor is hence named. At the same time, the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor cannot be connected wrongly.

Tantalum electrolytic capacitor mainly consists of sintering solid, foil winding solid, sintering liquid, and so on. The sintered solids account for more than 95% of the current production and are mainly composed of non-metallic sealed resin.

The aluminum electrolytic capacitor can be divided into four types: the lead type aluminum electrolytic capacitor; Horn type aluminum electrolytic capacitor; Bolted aluminum electrolytic capacitor; Solid aluminum electrolytic capacitor.

The possible reasons for the capacitor explosion are as follows:

The breakdown of the internal components of the capacitor is mainly due to the poor manufacturing process.
The capacitor is damaged by insulation to the shell. The high voltage side of the capacitor is made of a thin steel sheet. If the manufacturing process is poor, the edge is uneven with burr or serious bend. The tip is prone to corona, and the corona causes the breakdown of oil, the expansion of the case and the drop of oil. In addition, when the cover is closed, if the welding time is too long, the internal insulation burns and produces oil and gas, causing the voltage to drop greatly and damage.
Poor sealing and oil leakage. The insulation resistance is reduced due to the poor sealing of the assembly casing. Or the oil spill caused the oil surface to drop, resulting in the extreme shell direction discharge or component breakdown.
The belly and the inside dissociate. Due to the internal corona, breakdown discharge, and serious dissociation, under the action of overvoltage, the starting free voltage of the element is reduced to the working electric field intensity. This causes the physical, chemical and electrical effects to accelerate the aging and decomposition of the insulation, producing gas and forming a vicious circle, the pressure of the case is increased, causing the drum to explode
A capacitor explodes with an electric charge. All capacitors with rated voltages are forbidden to be charged. Each time the capacitor bank recloses, the capacitor must be discharged for 3min after the switch is disconnected. Otherwise, the voltage polarity of the closing moment may be caused by the opposite polarity of the residual charge on the capacitor. For this purpose, a capacitor bank with a capacity of more than 160kvar is generally required, and automatic tripping device should be installed when there is no pressure. And the capacitor bank switches are not allowed to install automatic reclosing.

In addition, it may be caused by high temperature, poor ventilation, high operating voltage, excessive voltage harmonic component or operating overvoltage, etc.

Stanford Advanced Materials (SAM) is a leading supplier and manufacturer of high-quality capacitor grade tantalum powder and tantalum wire with competitive price and great delivery time. Please visit http://www.samaterials.com for more information.

Applications of Tantalum in the Electronic Industry

Tantalum and its alloy have a high melting point, corrosion resistance, excellent high-temperature strength, and are free of radioactive, etc, are widely used in the electronics industry, chemical industry, aerospace, weapon system, the medical field, etc. Applications of tantalum materials in the electronic industry mainly include tantalum capacitors, integrated circuits, electron tubes, storage devices, and passive devices.

Tantalum Capacitors

Tantalum capacitors have strong corrosion resistance and can maintain stable electrical and physical and chemical properties under various environmental conditions. In addition, it also has a high resistance rate (7.5 x 1012 Ω cm), a large dielectric constant (27.6), and a small leakage current.

Tantalum has the characteristics of a valve metal, and the dense oxide film generated on its surface has unidirectional conductivity, which is suitable for capacitors. Tantalum capacitors are large in capacity and small in volume. Their capacitance is three times that of aluminum capacitors, while their volume is much smaller than that of aluminum capacitors. The tantalum capacitor has a working temperature range of 80 ~ 200 ℃, so it can meet the demand of different temperatures. In addition, tantalum capacitors also have strong stability and heat resistance, which makes them highly reliable materials in the electronics industry, as well as widely used in military and high-tech fields that need to ensure high reliability.

Integrated circuit

Tantalum has been introduced into the semiconductor industry as a barrier layer film material to prevent the diffusion of copper atoms to silicon wafers. Copper does not form a compound with tantalum and nitrogen, so tantalum and tantalum base films are used as a barrier layer to prevent the diffusion of copper. In order to prevent copper atoms from diffusing into silicon matrix, tantalum nitride, tantalum silicide, tantalum carbide, tantalum nitride silicide, tantalum nitride carbide, and other tantalum base films are used as barrier layers with good effects.

Tantalum-based films have high conductivity, high thermal stability, and excellent corrosion resistance, which are highly resistant to foreign atoms.

Memory device

Tantalum oxide based resistance variable memory (RRAM) has the advantages of simple structure, fast reading and writing speed, strong miniaturization and compatibility with the CMOS process. Tantalum oxide material has good thermal stability that can reach 1100 ℃. There are only two stable phases between the tantalum and oxygen, namely Ta2O5 and TaO2, which also have two very high oxygen capacity ratio under the high temperature of 1000 ℃.

Passive device

When tantalum nitride film is exposed to air, an oxide layer will naturally form on the surface to protect the film from erosion in the presence of water vapor and voltage. Tantalum nitride chip resistors do not cause catastrophic failure of the device due to poor package or protective coating integrity.

At present, the application field of capacitor grade tantalum wire is further expanded with the rapid development of the electronic market. However, the development of tantalum capacitors has been greatly restricted due to various reasons, such as the increase in production cost, the further consumption of resources, and the intensified competition among ceramic capacitors.

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