INTRODUCTION
Rhenium is a rare, silvery white, metallic element. It is one of the transition elements of the periodic table. Its name comes from Rhenus, the Latin name for the Rhine River.
Rhenium metal is very hard; with the exception of tungsten, it is the least fusible of all common metals. It is extremely rare, ranking about 79th in natural abundance among elements in crustal rocks.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 75
- Atomic Mass
- 186.2
- Atomic radius
- 0.128
- Ionization energy
- 759
- Electronic config
- 2,8,18,32,13,2
- Principal Valency
- +2
- Density g/cm³
- 21.0
- Melting point °C
- 3186
- Boiling point °C
- 5596
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- 1.9
- Element Category
- Manganese Group
- Appearance
- Silvery white solid
- Block
- d-block
- Period
- 6
- Group
- 7
- No of Isotopes
- 35
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 0.0007
- Year of Discovery
- 1935
EXTRACTION
It is obtain by heat decomposition
OXIDATION STATES
+7,+6,+5,+4,+3,+2,+1,0,-1 (Mildly acidic)
MAJOR SOURCE
Flue dust obtained on roasting a copper ore
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
Rhenium oxide
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Rhenium is used in welding rods, electrical filaments, thermocouples, cryogenic magnets, airplane engines, and photographic flashbulb filaments.
* It is used in the form of flashbulb filaments made of tungsten alloyed with 3 percent rhenium to provide quicker flashing.
* Rhenium is utilize in electron tubes and contacts in electrical relays and switches.
* Rhenium is also used as a catalyst in some certain chemical reactions.
