Hafnium
History
In 1923, one of the last elements was discovered: Hafnium. Despite its striking resemblance to Zirconium, Dirk Coster and Georg von Hevesy managed to identify this technological metal in Copenhagen. Their recipe for success: they recognized the characteristic X-ray spectra of Hafnium. They were inspired by the city of Copenhagen when naming the element; in Latin, the city is called "Hafnia."
Properties
Hafnium is a malleable, silver-shiny metal. It has very high melting and boiling points and is superconductive at very low temperatures. Hafnium is a relatively base metal, which is highly reactive in finely divided form and is very similar to Zirconium. It forms a thin oxide layer in the air, making the metal corrosion-resistant. The electron catcher is immune to many acids and bases.
| Properties | Value |
|---|---|
Melting Point | 2150 °C |
Boiling point | 4603 °C |
Specific Gravity | 13,31 g/cm³ |
Mass Fraction/Earth's Crust | 4,2 ppm |
Color | silver |
Jahresproduktion | ca. 65t |
Hauptproduzenten | Australien, Südafrika |
Usage | Superalloys, nuclear energy, aircraft and turbine construction, high-temperature applications |
Application Areas
Hafnium is used as control rod material in nuclear reactors and plays a role in laser technology. Without Hafnium, computer chips would be significantly slower as it replaces the silicon previously used. A full 50% of the total Hafnium production is used for superalloys in turbine and aircraft technology. For many applications, a low zirconium content is important. The industry often demands a maximum of 0.2 – 0.5% Zr. This should also be considered for physical Hafnium investments.
Prospects
Due to the rapidly developing semiconductor technology, it is expected that demand will steadily increase in the coming years. This development is also driven by the significantly growing demand for Hafnium in the alloy manufacturing industry for aircraft turbines.
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