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A sputtering target is used to make thin films through a process called sputter deposition. The process takes a solid material, breaks it down into small particles using gaseous ions, and then sprays it onto another material.

Scientists have recently determined that a new group of cheap materials may actually hold the key to faster battery charging. If further testing shows this to be true, it’s possible that smartphones and other devices could go from very low battery to completely full in only a few minutes.

September 10th, 2018 was a day of recognition and victory for both Dr. Yuri Freeman and Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center (T.I.C). Dr. Freeman was named this year’s winner of the medal of Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize while T.I.C celebrated yet another achievement in tantalum research. T.I.C. is the global trade body representing the tantalum and niobium industry.

In 2012, after Exotech purchased its second building, adjacent to main its facility, Exotech engineers started plans for an expanded metal cleaning and processing chemical line.

The demands of the Dodd-Frank Act and the mandates of the EICC/GeSi program create many ‘grey’ areas for the scrap metal processor of ‘The 3 T’s and Gold’. The 3 T’s are Tin, Tungsten, and Tantalum.

One of Mark Gussack’s fondest stories that he tells at Exotech, is of the ingenuity to recover Tantalum from a difficult source. The story goes back over 20 years ago.

The first step in converting Chrome ore into Electrolytic Chromium Metal is to dissolve Chrome ore in a solution suitable for the electrolytic process. The two most common types of solution are Chrome Alum Sulfate and Chromic Acid. The first is what is known as the trivalent process and the second is the hexavalent process. While the trivalent process is much more efficient, the hexavalent process makes a much higher purity metal.

Exotech prides itself in processing those recyclable metals that are too difficult for others to process. Learn more about our main services.

Selling used (scrap) Tantalum sputter targets into the scrap metal market for recycling creates an important source of Tantalum metal for the needs of industry. If this supply were not available, industry would have to purchase only virgin Tantalum from the Tantalum metal producers, thus eliminating competition from an alternate supply. Primary Tantalum metal producers supply the ingots and blanks to sputter target manufacturers.

Tungsten, while a relatively rare and exotic metal, is used in many products that we encounter every day. Tungsten is both very heavy and very hard. Most of its applications stem from those two properties. It is also reasonably priced compared to the price of other rare and exotic metals. Its price is substantially below the Tantalum price, the Niobium price and the Hafnium price.