Rhenium / CAS 7440-15-5

Rhenium, atomic number 75, was discovered in 1925 by Germany’s Nodak, Take, and Berk who analyzed X-rays of platinum ore and discovered the unknown spectral line. Rhenium comes from the Latin name Rhenus of the Rhine River in Germany, the discoverer’s homeland.

Rhenium is not radioactive and was the last element to be found as a stable element in nature. Also, among the metallic elements, the presence in the crust is very small and the melting point of the single element material is the second highest after tungsten.

Rhenium is the rarest metal element among rare metals and has a limited use.
The super-heated alloy, which is added to tungsten or molybdenum, is high in strength at high temperatures and is used in the engine of a rocket or jet engines.

Due to the high melting point, the tungsten-lenium thermocouple is used for high temperature measurements above 2000°C. Lenium is also used for heating filaments in lamps and ovens, and filaments containing rhenium are also used as ion sources for mass spectrometers.
Also, it has excellent arc-resistivity, which is used as an electrical contact material and is used as a pen point.