Niobium

A sheet of niobium

Niobium is a chemical element. It is sometimes named columbium. It has the chemical symbol Nb. It has the atomic number 41. It is a rare metal. Niobium is soft and grey. It is ductile. In chemistry it is placed in a group of metal elements named the transition metals. Niobium was discovered in a variety of a mineral called columbite (now called niobite). Niobite is an ore of niobium.^[1]

Niobium is considered a technology-critical element. It is used in alloys, such as to make special steels and strong welded joints. Less than 0.1% of Niobium significantly improves the strength of steel.^[2] It is in the superconducting alloys used in MRI scanners, which are one of the most important medical inventions of the modern age.

Niobium Media

English chemist Charles Hatchett identified the element columbium in 1801 within a mineral discovered in Connecticut, US.
Niobium producers in 2006 to 2015
A very pure sample of niobium pentachloride
Ball-and-stick model of niobium pentachloride, which exists as a dimer
Apollo 15 CSM in lunar orbit with the dark rocket nozzle made from niobium–titanium alloy
Merlin Vacuum nozzle made from a niobium alloy
A 3-tesla clinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner using niobium superconducting alloy
A 1.3 GHz 9-cell superconducting radio frequency cavity made from niobium is on display at Fermilab

References

↑ G.V. Samsonov {ed) 1968. Mechanical properties of the elements. In Handbook of the physicochemical properties of the elements. New York, USA: IFI-Plenum. ISBN 978-1-4684-6066-7
↑ Patel, Zh. & Khul'ka K. 2001. Niobium for steelmaking. Metallurgist. 45 (11–12): 477–480.

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[1] G.V. Samsonov {ed) 1968. Mechanical properties of the elements. In Handbook of the physicochemical properties of the elements. New York, USA: IFI-Plenum. ISBN 978-1-4684-6066-7

[2] Patel, Zh. & Khul'ka K. 2001. Niobium for steelmaking. Metallurgist. 45 (11–12): 477–480.

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