Global Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) Market Research Report 2024-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2030

Global Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) Market Research Report 2024-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2030

Niobium pentoxide is an inorganic compound with the molecular formula of Nb2O5. It is a colorless insoluble solid, which is quite inactive. It is the main precursor of all materials made of niobium and can be applied to niobium metal, optical glass and pottery.

Niobium pentoxide has many polymorphic forms, which are mainly based on octahedral coordinated niobium atoms. Polymorphs are identified with various prefixes. The most common form is monoclinic crystal H-Nb2O5, which has a complex structure and a unit cell containing 28 niobium atoms and 70 oxygen atoms, of which 27 niobium atoms are octahedral coordinated and one is tetrahedral coordinated. There is an unidentified solid hydrate, Nb2O5.nH2O, the so-called niobic acid (formerly called niobic acid), can be prepared by hydrolysis of niobium pentachloride or Nb2O5 alkaline solution dissolved in HF. The average coordination number of molten niobium pentoxide is lower than that of crystal form, and its structure mainly contains NbO5 and NbO6 polyhedrons.

Hydrolyze:

Nb2O5 is prepared by alkali hydrolysis of alkali metal niobate, alkoxide or fluoride. This superficially simple procedure provides hydrated oxides, which can then be calcined. Pure Nb2O5 can also be prepared by hydrolyzing NbCl5:

2NbCl5+5H2O →Nb2O5+ 10HCl

It is known that the production method by sol-gel technology is to hydrolyze niobium alkoxide in the presence of acetic acid and then calcine the gel to produce T- Nb2O5 in orthorhombic form.

Oxidate:

Since Nb2O5 is the most common and stable niobium compound, there are many practical and profound methods to form niobium. For example, when niobium metal is oxidized in air, oxides are produced. Oxidizing niobium dioxide NbO2 in air to form polymorph L-Nb2O5. Nano-sized niobium pentoxide particles have been synthesized by LiH reduction of NbCl5, and then air oxidized as part of the synthesis of nanostructured niobate.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market finds that the global Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market reached a value of USD 581.31 million in 2023. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 1457.54 million by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 16.56% during the forecast period.

The continuous development of economy and industry

Niobium pentoxide is well-known, and the fundamental reason for the leap-forward development of its application scenarios lies in economic development and innovation in industrial technology. The explosive growth of industry user demand has greatly enriched the application scenarios of niobium pentoxide. On the one hand, the further improvement of raw materials and suppliers in the niobium pentoxide industry chain is conducive to the transformation and upgrading of the source end of the industry and the optimization of industrial processes; the improvement of quality to further meet the new needs of users, all of which are conducive to the further development of the industry. The promotion of all parties has made the application and development of niobium pentoxide strong. With the continuous development of the global economy, breakthroughs in industrial technology and industrial innovation, the progress of niobium pentoxide manufacturing enterprises has been continuously promoted.

In the high-end battery market will gain a larger share

In battery technology, material chemistry is key, and niobium plays a decisive role in creating higher performance, faster charging, more durable, and safer batteries. The application of niobium in advanced lithium-ion batteries has significant advantages. Niobium is used as a doping and coating material to develop novel low - or cobalt-free, lithium - and Mangan-based positives with higher performance, better electronic conductivity, and long-term stability. In addition, niobium can also be used to manufacture new anode materials with high power, fast charging, wider operating temperature range, longer service life and better safety. Lithium-ion batteries modified with niobium can be safely recharged in up to 10 minutes without the risk of fire, while traditional lithium-ion batteries take two to three hours to charge. According to industry leaders, the use of niobium mixed metal oxide instead of graphite on the anode side of the battery can improve safety and price stability, and expand the capacity of battery-grade niobium oxide for high-power, long-life, safer and ultra-fast charging technology in the lithium-ion battery field. With the deepening of global electrification, it is expected that investment in niobium-related battery technology will increase in the future, which will drive the development of the industry.

Region Overview:

Latin America is projected to account for a considerable share of the Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market and is expected to become the largest region by 2028.

Company Overview:

CBMM is one of the major players operating in the Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market, holding a share of 42.37% in 2023.

CBMM is a Brazilian company that specializes in the processing and technology of niobium, extracted from its pyrochlore mine near the city of Araxá, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The company was founded in 1955. They have become the global leader in the production and commercialization of Niobium products, serving more than 400 customers in over 40 countries.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Industrial Grade Niobium Pentoxide segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2022.

Industrial Grade Niobium Pentoxide Industrial grade Niobium pentoxide means that Niobium pentoxide is mainly used in industrial production because of its strong acid surface and high stability in various acid catalysis in aqueous medium. It is mainly used in niobium metal, optical glass and pottery. The metallurgical industry has always been Niobium pentoxide’s largest consumer industry. In addition, Niobium pentoxide is also widely used in piezoelectric ceramics, thermal ceramics, electrothermal ceramics, electromagnets, optical waveguides, electronic crystals and other electronic materials. With the increasing proportion of high-tech industries in economic development, the demand for Niobium Pentoxide will also increase; it not only continues to grow in the traditional metallurgy and material industries, but also in the electronics industry.

3N Niobium Pentoxide 3N Niobium Pentoxide refers to Niobium Pentoxide molecules with 3 degrees of freedom of rotation.

4N Niobium Pentoxide 4N Niobium Pentoxide refers to Niobium Pentoxide molecules with 4 degrees of freedom of rotation.

Application Overview:

By application, the Niobium Metal segment occupied the biggest share from 2018 to 2022.
Niobium Metal Niobium pentoxide can be converted into metallic niobium by reduction reaction.
The transformation of Nb2O5 is the main way of industrial production of niobium. In the 1980s, about 15,000,000 kg of Nb2O5 was consumed every year for reduction to metal. The main reducing agent is aluminum, which is used to reduce this oxide:
3Nb2O5+ 10Al→6Nb + 5Al2O3

Another method is to use carbon as reducing agent for reduction. This method is not very practical in industrial reduction of niobium. The method is carried out by carbon reduction and forms the basis of a two-stage bulke process:

Nb2O5+7C→2NbC+5CO (heated to 1800℃ in vacuum)

5NbC+ Nb2O5→7Nb+5CO

Optical Glass Optics has been highly developed in recent decades, and is now widely used in camera lens systems, optical microscope objective lenses and so on. The main reason why niobium pentoxide is widely used in optical glass is that niobium pentoxide helps to form glass with high refractive index and low optical dispersion.

Optical glass made of niobium pentoxide does not pose a health risk to users. When niobium pentoxide is added to glass during the production of optical lenses, the lenses will become lighter, thinner and show greater elasticity.

For example, niobium pentoxide in interchangeable lenses makes the lenses lighter and achieves better performance in digital cameras and mirrorless cameras. Adding niobium pentoxide into spherical lenses can reduce the number of lenses in optical elements, thus making the components lighter and smaller.

Ceramic Niobium pentoxide is mainly used in ceramics and electronic ceramics.

For example, when niobium pentoxide is used as dopant in the production of multilayer ceramic capacitors, the Curie temperature of barium titanate substrate can be increased, so as to achieve the best temperature stability and optimize the capacity.

Key Companies in the global Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market covered in Chapter 3:

F&X Electro-Materials Limited
Materion
Guangdong Lingguang New Material Co
Jiujiang ZhongAo Tantalum and Niobium Co.,Ltd
JX Nippon Mining and Metals Corporation
CBMM
Mitsui Kinzoku
KING-TAN Tantalum
Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co
Taki Chemical
Solikamsk Magnesium Works
Ximei Group
MPIL
AMG

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market from 2019 to 2030 is primarily split into:

Industrial Grade Niobium Pentoxide
3N Niobium Pentoxide
4N Niobium Pentoxide

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) market from 2019 to 2030 covers:

Niobium Metal
Optical Glass
Ceramic
Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2019-2030) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)