All about ruthenium

The elements of the periodic table are familiar to everyone, however, over time, scientists discover new ones, and also describe in detail the properties of those already known. One of the remarkable and interesting discoveries is ruthenium, which has unique magnetic properties and therefore is very important for science and modern technology.

Ruthenium is considered the lightest of the platinum group metals, and is also less noble. The element was discovered by Professor Ozanne, who was interested in the research of the Ural precious ores. The researcher concluded that in addition to platinum, the ore contains ruthenium, polynomial, polynomial. The elements were named after Ozanne, while ruthenium was named after Russia. The attitude to the professor's work was quite critical, so the chemist conducted experiments several times.

Several decades later, Ozann's work attracted the interest of chemistry professor K. K. Klauss from Kazan University. He developed his own experiments to extract platinum from the precious ore.

The Soviet scientist S.M. Starostin devoted almost his entire life to the study of this polyvalent metal. In the course of his work, he made a lot of conclusions about the characteristic features of ruthenium, as well as the severity of its separation from uranium and plutonium.

Ruthenium belongs to the class of noble metals, its properties are partially similar to those of iron and osmium. The element has the 44th number in the periodic table and is in the 8th group of the 5th period. Ruthenium has a relative atomic mass of 101.07 amu.Its electronic formula includes 44 positively charged nuclei, inside which there are 44 protons, 57 neutrons, as well as 44 electrons that move around in 5 orbits.

Ruthenium is not only a metal, but also an additive that gives gold its black color. Its electronic formula – 4s 2 p 6 d 7 5s 1, melting point - 2250 degrees Celsius. Scientists claim that there are about 5,000 tons of this metal in the earth's crust. For this reason, and also because of the difficult extraction, the noble element is expensive. The properties of ruthenium differ from those of other metals, therefore it is valued in many industries. The element can be harmful only in some compounds.

The chemical properties of Kazan metal are considered typical for representatives of platinum... It is a highly inert element of the periodic table, which has 7 natural isotopes with high stability and 20 artificial ones, which have mass numbers of 92-113.

Under normal temperature conditions, ruthenium does not undergo oxidation and corrosive processes, as well as the influence of acid and alkali. If ruthenium is heated to a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius, then it can react with chlorine. Metal heated to 930 degrees can interact with oxygen.

There are metals that, together with ruthenium, are capable of creating highly resistant alloys. – intermetallic compounds. In compounds, the noble element exhibits a valency of 0-8. The most significant compounds with the participation of ruthenium are considered to be ruthenium dioxide, ruthenium tetroxide, ruthenium sulfide, and its fluoride.

As a pure metal, ruthenium can be used as a catalyst with high selectivity. This characteristic contributes to the fact that the noble metal can be used for the synthesis of substances of organic and inorganic nature.

Ruthenium is a beautiful solid metal, its color directly depends on the method of production and can vary from gray-blue to silvery-white. Due to some characteristics, the element is considered unique. Due to its extreme fragility, ruthenium can be easily rubbed in the hand, however, it has a high hardness - 6.5 on the 10-point Mohs scale.

Ruthenium is one of the lightest metals in the platinum group., its density is 12.45 g / cm3. This item is different refractoriness - in order for it to turn into a liquid state, a temperature of 2334 degrees Celsius is required. During melting, metal particles evaporate in the electric arc. The open air high-temperature calcination procedure entails volatilization of the metal tetroxide.

Ruthenium is a superconductor. The 44th element is characterized by great scientific and practical value, as it is considered an interesting precious metal.

Due to the fact that ruthenium does not oxidize, has a pleasant color and shine, it is often used in jewelry. At the same time, goods made of pure metal do not exist, since it is in short supply. This platinoid is fragile, therefore it is used as a precious alloy ligature.

The high cost of ruthenium and its poor fusibility contribute to its use as a coating for jewelry. Its presence in jewelry makes titanium jewelry more resistant to corrosion, and gold and platinum jewelry more durable. Ruthenium can be used as an additive that turns gold black.

Ruthenium compounds have found their application in glass production. Some enamels contain a precious metal. In addition, ruthenium is part of the fluorescent coating that glows due to its presence.

It is known that ruthenium stains tumors and allows them to be seen when examining the human body. Thanks to him, doctors see each of the affected cells. Ruthenium is also used in the manufacture of medicines for tuberculosis, as well as infectious and skin ailments. It is difficult to imagine the space industry without this noble metal.

Since ruthenium is resistant to heat, it has become an integral part of the raw material for thermocouples used during high temperature measurements.... In the electrical industry, ruthenium is used in its pure form. This metal is applied in a small layer to radio components for anti-corrosion effect. Thanks to such spraying, the products are characterized by chemical invulnerability, as well as low mechanical wear.

Despite the fact that the world reserves of ruthenium are small at 5,000 tons, the metal is considered a waste. This mineral is not mined in its pure form, but is isolated during platinum production. Expensive metal is mainly purchased by industrialists, it is valuable at the present time and will be appreciated in the future. To date, there are known cases of the use of ruthenium for the synthesis of diamonds.

Already today, this noble metal is trying to compete with platinum, iridium and rhodium. Scientists believe that in the future, much can be expected from the use of ruthenium coating, which increases the resistance of the product to corrosion, mechanical and chemical damage. Such a unique property of a metal, as the ability to sorb and transmit hydrogen, can be used in the future to obtain pure hydrogen.

There are many interesting facts associated with silver-colored metal.

• Ruthenium is the only metal that was extracted in Russia by extraction from mineral raw materials.
• Until now, no one has succeeded in obtaining 100% stable ruthenium, since the element is characterized by high chemical activity.
• Ruthenium is a very refractory metal, in this characteristic it is second only to rhenium, osmium, molybdenum, iridium, tungsten, tantalum, niobium.
• The uniqueness of ruthenium lies in its polyvalent, it has the ability to manifest itself in 9 different valencies.
• This noble metal cannot be dissolved in acid and aqua regia.
• This element is considered the only one that has the ability to bind air nitrogen into a chemical compound. Some types of bacteria have this ability.
• In nature, there is one substance with ruthenium - laurite.
• Relatively large amounts of ruthenium are found in Russia, Canada and the United States.
• Ruthenium is a rare high-valence metal with unique properties. Its superior oxide is considered to be a rather poisonous substance.

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