Discovered in 1801 by Hatchett in an ore sent to England more that a century before by John Winthrop the Younger, first governor of Connecticut. The metal was first prepared in 1864 by Blomstrand, who reduced the chloride by heating it ina hydrogen atmosphere. The name niobium was adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in 1950 after 100 years ofcontroversy. Many leading chemical societies and government organizations refer to it by this name. Most metallurgists, leading metal societies, andall but one of the leading U.S. commercial producers, however, still refer to the metal as “columbium”. The element is found in niobite(or columbite),niobite-tantalite, pyrochlore, and euxenite. Large deposits of niobium have been found associated with carbonatites (carbon-silicate rocks), as aconstituent of pyrochlore. Extensive ore reserves are found in Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, Zaire, and in Russia. The metal can be isolated from tantalum,and prepared in several ways. It is a shiny, white, soft, and ductile metal, and takes on a bluish cast when exposed to air at room temperatures for along time. The metal starts to oxidize in air at 200°C, and when processed at even moderate temperatures must be placed in a protective atmosphere.It is used in arc-welding rods for stabilized grades of stainless steel. Thousands of pounds of niobium have been used in advance air frame systemssuch as were used in the Gemini space program. The element has superconductive properties; superconductive magnets have been made with Nb-Zrwire, which retains its superconductivity in strong magnetic fields. This type of application offers hope of direct large-scale generation of electricpower. Natural niobium is composed of only one isotope, 93Nb. Forty one other isotopes and isomers of niobium are now recognized. Niobium metal(99.9% pure) is priced at about $400/kg. 1

• "A number of transition metals (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W) form interstitial carbides of composition MC and, in some cases, M₂C. These carbides have extremely high melting points; they are very hard, and they are good electrical conductors." 2

Melting Point:3*  2477 °C = 2750.15 K = 4490.6 °F
Boiling Point:3* 4744 °C = 5017.15 K = 8571.2 °F
Sublimation Point:3 
Triple Point:3 
Critical Point:3 
Density:4  8.57 g/cm3

* - at 1 atm

Electron Configuration

Bonding

Thermochemistry

Isotopes

Earth - Source Compounds: oxides 15
Earth - Seawater: 0.00001 mg/L 16
Earth -  Crust:  20 mg/kg = 0.002% 16
Earth -  Total:  800 ppb 17
Mercury -  Total:  610 ppb 17
Venus -  Total:  840 ppb 17
Chondrites - Total: 1.0 (relative to 106 atoms of Si) 18

Material Safety Data Sheet - ACI Alloys, Inc.

External Links:

(1) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:20-4:21.
(2) - Jolly, William L. The Chemistry of the Non-Metals; Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966; p 119.
(3) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:132.
(4) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:39-4:96.
(5) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 11th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1973; p 4:8-4:149.
(6) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10:147-10:148.
(7) - Speight, James. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 16th ed.; McGraw-Hill Professional: Boston, MA, 2004; p 1:132.
(8) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10:178 - 10:180.
(9) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:133.
(10) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:193, 12:219-220.
(11) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:123-6:137.
(12) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:107-6:122.
(13) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 12th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1979; p 9:4-9:94.
(14) - Atomic Mass Data Center. http://amdc.in2p3.fr/web/nubase_en.html (accessed July 14, 2009).
(15) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 965.
(16) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 14:17.
(17) - Morgan, John W. and Anders, Edward, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 6973-6977 (1980)
(18) - Brownlow, Arthur. Geochemistry; Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1979, pp 15-16.