TANTALUM

• Tantalum, a scarce metal with atomic number 73, possesses distinctive properties. It appears as a dense, grey metal renowned for its robustness and resistance to corrosion, making it highly sought after in modern applications.
• This resistance is due to the formation of a resilient oxide layer when exposed to air, which remains resistant even in harsh acid environments.
• In its pure form, tantalum exhibits ductility, allowing it to be stretched into thin wires without breaking.
• The US Department of Energy highlights its exceptional resistance to chemical reactions at temperatures below 150°C, noting its vulnerability solely to specific acids like hydrofluoric acid, fluoride-containing acidic solutions, and free sulfur trioxide. Additionally, tantalum boasts an extraordinarily high melting point, second only to tungsten and rhenium.
• Tantalum was first discovered in 1802 by the Swedish chemist Anders Gustaf Ekeberg. He identified it while analyzing minerals from Ytterby, Sweden. Initially, it was mistaken for niobium due to their similar chemical properties
• The rare metal has been named after a Greek mythological figure Tantalus, the rich but wicked king of a town above Mount Sipylus in Anatolia. Tantalus is best known for the terrible punishment he received from Zeus after the former tried to serve his son at a feast with the gods
• The king was banished to the underworld, where he forever stood in a pool of water with clusters of fresh fruit hanging overhead. Whenever he tried to drink the water, it receded. Whenever he tried to pick the fruit, the branches drew back
• This name was selected because of the insolubility of tantalum in acids; thus, when placed in the midst of acids, it is incapable of taking any of them up

• It's a crucial component in electronics, particularly in capacitors used in devices like smartphones, laptops, and other electronic gadgets.
• Tantalum's high melting point and corrosion resistance make it valuable for manufacturing components in jet engines, missiles, and other aerospace and defense applications.
• It's used in surgical instruments, implants, and medical-grade equipment due to its biocompatibility and resistance to body fluids.
• Tantalum's resistance to corrosion makes it suitable for handling corrosive materials in chemical processing plants
• It's used in the production of high-performance alloys, enhancing their strength, durability, and resistance to corrosion
• Tantalum finds applications in the nuclear industry due to its resistance to corrosion by liquids like nitric acid and its ability to withstand high temperatures
• Tantalum is used in the production of superconducting magnets for applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and particle accelerators
• In some cases, tantalum compounds are used in lenses and other optical instruments due to their refractive properties

4.About rare earth metals

Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table  the 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium, which tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides, and have similar chemical properties

 

The 17 rare earths are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y)

 

Despite their classification, most of these elements are not really “rare”. One of the rare earths, promethium, is radioactive

Source:Thermo Fisher Scientific

 

 

3. Applications of rare earth metals

• These elements are important in technologies of consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, healthcare, environmental mitigation, and national defence, among others
• Scandium is used in televisions and fluorescent lamps, and yttrium is used in drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cancer
•  Rare earth elements are used in space shuttle components, jet engine turbines, and drones
• Cerium, the most abundant rare earth element, is essential to NASA’s Space Shuttle Programme
• In recent years, rare earths have become even more important because there has been an increase in demand for green energy
• Elements like neodymium and dysprosium, which are used in wind turbine motors, are sought-after more than ever as wind mills across the world continue to grow
• Moreover, the push for switching from internal combustion cars to electric vehicles has also led to a rise in demand for rare earth magnets made from neodymium, boron, and iron and batteries