Patent ID: 7727508

Claim:
A process for preparing powders of niobium suboxides or niobium, wherein the process comprising: mixing the niobium oxides as raw material with reducing agent, conducting a reaction at a temperature in the range of 600˜1300° C. in an atmosphere of vacuum or inert gas or hydrogen gas, leaching the reaction product to remove the residual reducing agent and the oxides of the reducing agent and other impurities, heat treating at a temperature in the range of 1000˜1600° C. in an atmosphere of vacuum or inert gas, and screening to obtain the powders of niobium suboxides or niobium of capacitor grade, wherein said reducing agent is at least one selected from the group consisting of yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium, or their hydrides or their alloys or mixture of them.