A lustrous, gray, dense metal that is highly resistant to corrosion and is a good electrical conductor. It is refractory and forms hard alloys with iron, tantalum, and titanium, which are all used in the manufacture of capacitors and other electronic components. It is also found in high-temperature refractory ceramics. It reacts with oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen to form oxides and nitrides; it also forms a variety of carbides, borides, and carbonitrides with transition metals such as tungsten, chromium, zirconium, niobium, and titanium.

tantalum hafnium is a chemical compound of hafnium and tantalum, whose melting point of 4,215 degC (7,619 degF) makes it one of the most refractory substances known. It is also highly resistant to oxidation and is rarely found in elemental form. It is soluble in hydrofluoric acid, where it forms anionic fluoro complexes, and it reacts with many nonmetals, especially at elevated temperatures, to form carbides and nitrides.

Refractory ceramics made of tantalum hafnium are able to resist extreme heat, which makes them desirable as thermal protection systems on spacecraft and for nuclear reactor fuel cladding. Heeger Materials has a broad range of products that can be used in the fabrication of such ceramics.

The refractory ceramics are prepared from a mixture of a silicon-based preceramic polymer and one or more of the following ceramic powders: aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, boron carbide, boron nitride, titanium carbide, tungsten carbide, or tantalum nitride. The ceramic adhesive is then deposited on a substrate to produce functional coatings with predefined stoichiometry and crystal structure.