Development and application of tantalum and tantalum alloy

Tantalum and tantalum alloys are widely used in electronics, chemical weapons and other industries due to their high density, high melting point, corrosion resistance, excellent high-temperature strength, good workability and weldability, and low plastic/brittle transition temperature. Tantalum and tantalum alloys used in weapons and nuclear power systems, such as Ta-W, Ta-V, Ta-Hf, Ta-W-Hf, Ta-W-H-Re and other series of alloys. In recent years, the pace of research on tantalum and tantalum alloys has slowed down compared with that in the 1960s and 1970s, but it is still mainly focused on new applications in electronics, chemical industry, superalloys, weapon systems and so on.

Tantalum is mostly used in the electronics industry. According to relevant reports, 60% to 65% of tantalum is used in the electronic industry. For example, tantalum powder sintered blocks are used to make anodes for various liquid and solid tantalum capacitors, tantalum wires are used as anode leads for capacitors, and tantalum foils and tantalum plates are used for tantalum foil capacitors, liquid tantalum capacitors and some special types of solid tantalum capacitors. With the rapid increase in the amount of tantalum capacitors used in the airbag systems and control systems of laptops, cameras, electronic controllers, mobile phones and automobiles, the application amount of tantalum in capacitors will still increase. Niobium capacitors are also developing rapidly. However, due to the low limit operating temperature (no more than 105°C) of niobium capacitors, the leakage rate is 5~10 times that of tantalum capacitors, so at present niobium capacitors pose no threat to the consumption of tantalum capacitors. Copper replaces aluminum as the connector material of large/very large integrated circuit, and copper and silicon have a great mutual diffusion coefficient, which is very harmful to the circuit. Tantalum is the best diffusion barrier material due to its excellent properties such as thermal stability, small diffusion coefficient in copper and silicon, high thermal conductivity and good adhesion. This may open up a large application area for tantalum. Tantalum is increasingly used in superalloys. At present, most of the aeroengine blades with good performance abroad are made of Ni - based single crystal superalloy, and the proportion of tantalum in the alloy is increasing. At the same time, a series of high temperature anti-oxidation Cr-Cr2Ta alloys for ground base and aeroengine are being studied. C- Cr2Ta self - growing composite with homogeneous layer Cr2Ta Laves phase can be prepared by directional solidification technique. In such alloys, chrome-base solid solutions exhibit good plasticity and high temperature oxidation resistance, while the Cr2Ta Laves phase is dispersed in chrome-base solid solutions to improve the alloy system's high temperature strength and room temperature fracture toughness. This is because the layered structure makes it difficult for the crack to expand, which leads to deflection, bifurcation and shear reinforcement, thus improving the fracture toughness of the material at room temperature. The successful development of such alloys will improve the thermal efficiency of gas turbines and lead to a wide range of applications for blades, seals and nozzles. In addition, it can be used for gas cleaning system components (such as hot gas filter), oil/gas well drill bits, etc. Tantalum is used as a coating material for tungsten solid targets in high energy accelerators due to its corrosion resistance, high neutron yield and good metallurgical compatibility with tungsten. In this way, the problem of easy corrosion of tungsten targets in the hot water environment radiated by proton can be solved, thus extending the life of tungsten targets with high neutron yield. The W-Ta composite plate is developed to replace the tantalum target, that is, a 0.6mm thick tantalum layer is coated on the sintered/hot-rolled tungsten plate by vacuum electron beam welding, and a W-Ta diffusion layer of fixed thickness is formed by an appropriate thermal isostatic pressure process. The results show that the neutron yield of W-Ta composite target is more than 20 % higher than that of pure tantalum target.

Tantalum and tantalum alloys are widely used in electronics, chemical, weapons and other industries due to their excellent comprehensive properties. With the rapid development of tantalum capacitors, the demand for tantalum will increase greatly. Copper replaces aluminum as the connector material in integrated circuits, which may also be developed for tantalum - a larger application area. The rapid development of high temperature alloy accelerates the development and application of tantalum in high temperature materials. The excellent dynamic properties of tantalum and tantalum alloys accelerate their development and application in weapon systems. In addition, tantalum and tantalum alloys have also developed rapidly in other fields, such as the application of Ta-T alloys in medicine and tantalum as cladding materials for tungsten targets.