Tantalum is the third refractory metal after tungsten and rhenium. Tantalum has a series of excellent properties such as high melting point, low vapor pressure, good cold working performance, high chemical stability, strong resistance to liquid metal corrosion, and high dielectric constant of surface oxide film. It has important applications in high-tech fields such as electronics, metallurgy, steel, chemical industry, hard alloys, atomic energy, superconducting technology, automotive electronics, aerospace, medical and health, and scientific research. At present, the main application of tantalum is tantalum capacitors.
How was tantalum discovered?
In the mid-7th century, a heavy black mineral discovered in North America was sent to the British Museum for safekeeping. After about 150 years, until 1801, British chemist Charles Hatchett accepted the analysis task of this mineral from the British Museum and discovered a new element from it, naming it Columbium (later renamed Niobium). In 1802, Swedish chemist Anders Gustav Eckberg discovered a new element by analyzing a mineral (niobium tantalum ore) in the Scandinavian Peninsula, which had its acid converted into fluoride double salts and then recrystallized. He named this element Tantalum after Tantalus, the son of Zeus in Greek mythology.