Niobium was isolated in 1801 by the English chemist Hatchett, who was studying a piece of iron ore in the British Museum in London, and the metal was first made by a Swiss chemist in 1864 by the reduction of chlorides with hydrogen.In 1951 the Nomenclature Committee of the International Association of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) decided to unify the use of niobium as the official name of the element.
Niobium was initially used to make filaments for incandescent lamps, but was soon replaced by tungsten, which had a higher melting point and was better suited to the manufacture of incandescent lamps. In the 1920s it was discovered that niobium could improve the strength of steel, and this gave impetus to the use of niobium in the field of iron and steel; in fact, the addition of only 0.03-0.05 per cent niobium to steel increased the yield strength of the steel by 30 per cent or more. or more. The addition of niobium does not change the structure of the iron, but rather combines with the carbon, nitrogen and sulphur in the steel to change the microstructure of the steel. Not only that, niobium also improves the steel's toughness, resistance to high-temperature oxidation, corrosion resistance, and lowers the steel's brittle transition temperature, resulting in good welding and forming properties.
Bell Labs scientists have found that niobium-tin alloys can still maintain superconducting properties under strong electric and magnetic field environments, and niobium is one of the highest critical temperatures, which makes niobium alloys the most important superconducting materials at present.
Someone designed a high-speed levitation train, its wheel parts installed superconducting magnets, is made of niobium-containing alloys, which can produce a strong and stable magnetic field, so that the entire train levitation on the track at a height of about 10 centimetres, no longer friction between the train and the track, and thus require very little power, the train can be allowed to reach speeds of more than 500 kilometres per hour. Niobium and titanium superconducting materials have also been used to create a direct current generator, which is small, lightweight, low-cost and generates 100 times more electricity than a generator of the same size.
Niobium also plays an important role in surgical medicine, has excellent corrosion resistance, does not interact with various fluids in the human body, and does not damage biological tissues at all, is adaptable to any sterilisation methods, can be combined with organic tissues for a long time and remains harmlessly in the human body. Thus, niobium sheets were used to compensate for damage to the skull, niobium wire was used to sew up nerves and tendons, niobium strips were used to replace broken bones and joints, and niobium yarn or niobium mesh made of niobium wire was used to compensate for muscles, as if they were grown on real bones. This is why niobium is also known as a "biophilic metal".
Niobium has an outer valence electron layer of 5 electrons, so it is rich in redox properties. Its valence can range from -1 to +5, and when the valence electron layer is completely removed it reveals a highly oxygen-friendly kryptonite core, which can be used as a halide converter, oxidising agent, and even for activating carbon-hydrogen bonds. A recent study has shown that the strong oxidising properties of pentavalent niobium can be used to purify poisonous gases, and that even the dreaded mustard gas can be easily transformed to non-toxicity by niobium saponite clay.
In 2003, the Austrians also found beautiful chemical art with niobium, the surface of niobium metal by electroplating niobium oxide film can be obtained refractive, sparkling surface, different thickness of the film can also produce different colours, so that a variety of different colours of coins, which increases the collector's value of these coins.
