Corrosion of niobium and niobium alloys

Niobium and niobium alloys are used in several corrosion-resistant applications, principally rocket and jet engines, nuclear reactors, sodium vapor highway lighting, and chemical-processing equipment. Niobium has many of the same properties of tantalum, its sister metal, but has one half the density of tantalum (see the article ''Corrosion of Tantalum'' in this Volume). A common property of niobium and tantalum is the interaction with the reactive elements hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon at temperatures above 3000C (5700F). These reactions will cause severe embrittlement. Consequently, at elevated temperatures, the metal must be protectively coated or used in vacuum or inert atmospheres. Niobium resists a wide variety of corrosive environments, including concentrated mineral acids, organic acids, liquid metals (particularly sodium and lithium), metal vapors, and molten salts