23 Facts About Tantalum

Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73.

Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.

Tantalum is considered a technology-critical element by the European Commission.

Tantalum was discovered in Sweden in 1802 by Anders Ekeberg, in two mineral samples – one from Sweden and the other from Finland.

Tantalum concluded that the two oxides, despite their difference in measured density, were identical and kept the name tantalum.

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Tantalum is dark, dense, ductile, very hard, easily fabricated, and highly conductive of heat and electricity.

Tantalum has been examined theoretically as a "salting" material for nuclear weapons .

Tantalum can be used as a target material for accelerated proton beams for the production of various short-lived isotopes including Li, Rb, and Yb.

Tantalum pentoxide is the most important compound from the perspective of applications.

Tantalum carbide, TaC, like the more commonly used tungsten carbide, is a hard ceramic that is used in cutting tools.

Tantalum nitride is used as a thin film insulator in some microelectronic fabrication processes.

Tantalum pentafluoride is a white solid with a melting point of 97.

Tantalum is produced in Thailand and Malaysia as a by-product of the tin mining there.

Tantalum can be refined by electrolysis, using a modified version of the Hall–Heroult process.

Tantalum is used to produce a variety of alloys that have high melting points, strength, and ductility.

Tantalum is inert against most acids except hydrofluoric acid and hot sulfuric acid, and hot alkaline solutions cause tantalum to corrode.

Tantalum was extensively used in the production of ultra high frequency electron tubes for radio transmitters.

Tantalum is capable of capturing oxygen and nitrogen by forming nitrides and oxides and therefore helped to sustain the high vacuum needed for the tubes when used for internal parts such as grids and plates.

Tantalum was used by NASA to shield components of spacecraft, such as Voyager 1 and 2, from radiation.

Tantalum is extremely inert and is therefore formed into a variety of corrosion resistant parts, such as thermowells, valve bodies, and tantalum fasteners.

Tantalum is highly bioinert and is used as an orthopedic implant material.

Tantalum receives far less attention in the environmental field than it does in other geosciences.

Tantalum appears to be a very conservative element in biogeochemical terms, but its cycling and reactivity are still not fully understood.