What is Rhodium?
Filed Under Rhodium Information |
Rhodium is a chemical element in the Platinum Metals Group. It is silvery white in appearance, highly reflective, and very durable. Most frequently rhodium is used to make electrical contacts for material due to its low electrical resistance or as an alloying agent with other metals.
Rhodium was first discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He discovered the new element using a crude platinum ore sample obtained from South America. He removed the platinum and palladium from the sample and was left with a powder which turned out to be sodium rhodium chloride. He was able to further isolate the sample to obtain rhodium.
On the Periodic Table of Elements, rhodium has an atomic number of 45 and uses the symbol Rh. It has a melting point of 2237K (1964 C) and a boiling point of 3968K (3695 C). The atomic weight is 102.9055 with an atomic radius of 134.5 pm.
Rhodium usually occurs in ores mixed with other metals such as palladium, silver, platinum, and gold. Extraction can be complex. The main exporters of rhodium are South Africa, which accounts for almost 60%, followed by Russia. Annual world production is only about 25 tons.
In recent year the price of rhodium has increased greatly. The current run in price appreciation began in 1997 when there were supply disruptions from Russia. At that time, rhodium was trading for under $300 per ounce. Today the price of rhodium recently surpassed $9,400 per ounce.
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