Hafnium Metal Powder Application

Most of the hafnium produced is used in the production of control rod for nuclear reactors.

Hafnium containing rocket nozzle of the Apollo Lunar Module in the lower right corner. Hafnium is used in iron, titanium, niobium, tantalum, and other metal alloys. An alloy used for liquid rocket thruster nozzles, for example the main engine of the Apollo Lunar Modules is C103, which consists of 89% niobium, 10% hafnium and 1% titanium.

Small additions of hafnium increase the adherence of protective oxide scales on nickel based alloys. It improves thereby the corrosion resistance especially under cyclic temperature conditions that tend to break oxide scales by inducing thermal stresses between the bulk material and the oxide layer.

The electronics industry discovered that hafnium-based compound can be employed in gate insulators in the 45 nm generation of integrated circuits from Intel, Hafnium oxide-based compounds are practical high-k dielectrics, allowing reduction of the gate leakage current which improves performance at such scales.

Due to its heat resistance and its affinity to oxygen and nitrogen, hafnium is a good scavenger for oxygen and nitrogen in gas-filled and incandescent lamps. Hafnium is also used as the electrode in plasma cutting because of its ability to shed electrons into air.