Oxygen niobium

In addition to oxidation itself, gas diffusion into the base metal can be more damaging than the actual loss of metal from the surface. Thus the loss in mechanical properties owing to diffusion of oxygen into niobium makes it more difficult to protect niobium against oxidation damage than molybdenum, even though molybdenum has less resistance to normal oxidation effects than niobium. 

Occurrence. Niobium and tantalum usually occur together. Niobium never occurs as the metal, ie, ia the free state. Sometimes it occurs as a hydroxide, siUcate, or borate most often it is combiaed with oxygen and another metal, forming a niobate or tantalate ia which the niobium and tantalum isomorphously replace one another with Htde change ia physical properties except density. Ore concentrations of niobium usually occur as carbonatites and are associated with tantalum ia pegmatites and alluvial deposits. Principal niobium-beariag minerals can be divided iato two groups, the titano- and tantalo-niobates. 

Once purification of the niobium has been effected, the niobium can be reduced to the metallic form. The double fluoride salt with potassium, K2NbFy, can be reduced using sodium metal. The reaction is carried out in a cylindrical iron vessel filled with alternating layers of K NbF and oxygen-free sodium ... 

Niobium Oxides. The solubihty of oxygen in niobium obeys Henry s law to the solubiHty limit of the first oxide phase of 850—1300°C (123). The amount of oxygen in solution in niobium is 1.3 at. % at 850°C and nearly 2 at. % at 1000°C (124). Only three clearly defined anhydrous oxides of niobium have been obtained in bulk, ie, NbO, Nb02, and Nb20. Niobium monoxide, NbO, is obtained by hydrogen reduction of the pentoxide at... 

Theories of the oxidation of tantalum in the presence of suboxide have been developed by Stringer. By means of single-crystal studies he has been able to show that a rate anisotropy stems from the orientation of the suboxide which is precipitated in the form of thin plates. Their influence on the oxidation rate is least when they lie parallel to the metal interface, since the stresses set up by their oxidation to the pentoxide are most easily accommodated. By contrast, when the plates are at 45° to the surface, complex stresses are established which create characteristic chevron markings and cracks in the oxide. The cracks in this case follow lines of pores generated by oxidation of the plates. This behaviour is also found with niobium, but surprisingly, these pores are not formed when Ta-Nb alloys are oxidised, and the rate anisotropy disappears. However, the rate remains linear it seems that this is another case in which molecular oxygen travels by sub-microscopic routes. 

Bismuth Niobium is resistant to bismuth at temperatures up to 560°C but is attacked at higher temperatures and is therefore not considered a suitable container for handling liquid bismuth even under oxygen-free conditions Furthermore, the stress-rupture properties of niobium are significantly lowered when the metal is tested in molten bismuth at 815°C . 

Sodium, potassium and sodium-potassium alloys Liquid sodium, potassium or alloys of these elements have little effect on niobium at temperatures up to 1 000°but oxygen contamination of sodium causes an increase in corrosionSodium does not alloy with niobium . In mass transfer tests, niobium exposed to sodium at 600°C exhibited a corrosion rate of approximately 1 mgcm d . However, in hot trapped sodium at 550°C no change of any kind was observed after 1 070 h . 

The oxidation rate of niobium in air from 800°C to above 1000°C can be decreased by alloying e.g. with hafnium, zirconium, tungsten, molybdenum, titanium or tantalum . However, the preferred fabricable alloys still require further protection by coating . Ion implantation improves thermal oxidation resistance of niobium in oxygen below 500°C . 

Since niobates and tantalates belong to the octahedral ferroelectric family, fluorine-oxygen substitution has a particular importance in managing ferroelectric properties. Thus, the variation in the Curie temperature of such compounds with the fluorine-oxygen substitution rate depends strongly on the crystalline network, the ferroelectric type and the mutual orientation of the spontaneous polarization vector, metal displacement direction and covalent bond orientation [47]. Hence, complex tantalum and niobium fluoride compounds seem to have potential also as new materials for modem electronic and optical applications. 

One of the most important parameters that defines the structure and stability of inorganic crystals is their stoichiometry - the quantitative relationship between the anions and the cations [134]. Oxygen and fluorine ions, O2 and F, have very similar ionic radii of 1.36 and 1.33 A, respectively. The steric similarity enables isomorphic substitution of oxygen and fluorine ions in the anionic sub-lattice as well as the combination of complex fluoride, oxyfluoride and some oxide compounds in the same system. On the other hand, tantalum or niobium, which are the central atoms in the fluoride and oxyfluoride complexes, have identical ionic radii equal to 0.66 A. Several other cations of transition metals are also sterically similar or even identical to tantalum and niobium, which allows for certain isomorphic substitutions in the cation sublattice. 

The ratio between the anionic and cationic radii leads to coordination numbers, the lowest of which is 6, which correspond to a octahedral polyhedron of anions around a central cation [135]. In this case, the compound structure type depends on the ratio of total number of anions and cations. The total number of anions (X) is calculated by summing up the number of oxygen (O) ions and of fluorine (F) ions X=0+F, while the total number of cations (Me) is the number of tantalum ions, niobium ions and other similar cations. 

Alongside this, IR spectra of M3NbOF6 type compounds display a strong absorption band at 920 cm"1 indicating the presence of a double niobium-oxygen bond, Nb=0 [57, 115, 155, 156]. Kaidalova [156] explained this contradiction as a phenomenon that is related to the hampered rotation of the NbOF63 polyhedron in the equatorial plane. 

According to crystal analysis performed by Stomberg [173], Na2NbOF5 is made up of sodium ions and isolated NbOF52 complex ions and is similar in structure to FeWC>6. NbOFs2" polyhedrons comprise slightly distorted octahedrons that are located in one of two equivalent positions. The niobium atom is shifted 0.234 A from the equatorial plane towards the oxygen atom. 

The niobium atom has a slightly distorted octahedral coordination. Interatomic distances between the niobium atom and the two oxygen atoms in trans positions, O-Nb-O are 1.81 and 2.14 A. The niobium atom is shifted from the base plane of the octahedron by 0.23 A, and this shift, in adjacent chains, is in opposite directions. Pakhomov and Kaidalova [204] concluded that the shorter Nb-O bond (1.81 A) is an intermediate between a single and double bond. 

The steric similarity of oxygen and fluorine ions enables the formation of coordination-type structures in some tantalum and niobium oxyfluoride compounds. 

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