Niobium has a very low capture cross section for thermal neutrons, so it is quite useful in the nuclear industry. Tantalum can be used to make evaporating utensils and so on. It can also be used as electrode, rectifier and electrolytic capacitor of electronic tube. Used medicinally to make thin sheets or threads to repair damaged tissue. Tantalum niobium ore is a general term for the minerals containing tantalum and niobium. Used for preparing tantalum oxide and oxidation.
The C-103 is a niobium alloy containing 89% niobium, 10% hafnium and 1% titanium. It can be used in liquid rocket thruster nozzles, such as the main engine of Apollo lunar module. Since niobium begins to oxidize above 400 ° C, a protective coating must be applied to its surface to prevent it from becoming brittle.
Niobium sheet can make up for the damage of skull, niobium wire can be used to sew nerves and tendons, niobium strip can replace broken bones and joints, niobium yarn or net made of niobium wire can be used to compensate muscle tissue.
The properties of tantalum make its application very broad. Tantalum can be used to replace stainless steel in the production of various inorganic acids, and its service life can be increased dozens of times than that of stainless steel. In addition, in the chemical, electronic, electrical and other industries, tantalum can replace the tasks that need to be undertaken by precious metal platinum in the past, which greatly reduces the cost.
Tantalum has been made into capacitors for use in military equipment. The U.S. military industry is extremely developed and is the world's largest arms exporter. Half of the world's Tantalum production is used in the production of tantalum capacitors. The U.S. Department of Defense Logistics is the largest owner of tantalum, once buying up one third of the world's tantalum powder.