Tantalum has a wide range of uses in today’s world. The largest use is in tantalum capacitors. Today, anodized tantalum capacitors are used in many common electronic devices. Most other applications take advantage of tantalum’s corrosion resistance or its ability to withstand high temperatures.
The pharmaceutical industry finds tantalum very attractive because it has very low corrosion resistance. Corrosion byproducts can contaminate process media and introduce contaminants into the product.
In the chemical process industry, few materials can outperform tantalum in acidic media. Tantalum is commonly used as a tank and pipe lining for process vessels, as a heat exchange material in shell and tube heat exchangers, condensers, and heaters. It is often used as an autoclave lining in many high-temperature, high-pressure applications. Tantalum can also be used to repair glass-lined vessels. Tantalum is often thought of as being used only in small equipment applications. However, tantalum equipment can be quite large.
Tantalum is also used in heating elements and heat shields in high-temperature vacuum furnaces, as well as crucible material for many high-temperature applications.
The thin film industry uses tantalum as a sputtering target source material for many electronic applications.
Tantalum is also used in the medical field for hemostatic clips, stents, and pacemaker parts. Tantalum is inert in the human body due to its corrosion resistance.
Industry has long discovered that tantalum and its alloys are solutions to some of the most difficult problems. It is well known that tantalum has been used for decades in situations where other materials would quickly fail. It is often chosen over cheaper materials because it provides long service and reduces downtime.
Tantalum is also a versatile, easy to manufacture material that often outperforms almost all alternatives. While its properties are not widely known, are often misunderstood, and in some cases are somewhat different from more common materials, it often provides industry with practical solutions to difficult problems.