I suspect everyone reading a recent ASME article was told, at least once when they were young, not to put an electrical device or live cord into water. This led to a corollary that you should not connect electrical wires under water. For those who work with electrical equipment, all underwater, this can be a troublesome reality.
However, a Northrop Grumman fellow, Harvey Hack, learned years ago that the element Niobium (Nb) had the property that when something made of Niobium was immersed in water a thin film developed on the surface of the metal. And it did so very rapidly. It also had the property that when two ends of an electrical connector made of Niobium touched each other, the thin film (150 nm), rubbed off making an electrical connection.
This knowledge stayed in the back of Mr. Hack’s mind until a way to safely connect underwater vehicles to recharging units, done entirely underwater, became necessary. Making all the connectors out of Niobium was the answer.
This is the first that I have ever heard of Niobium (atomic number 41), which is sometimes added to steel to increase strength. It is 9 times more expensive than copper, the traditional material for electrical connectors, but its advantages outweigh the cost. The article is short, but it has some interesting additional information about the origin of Niobium’s name and other applications of Niobium. – Dr. Tom
