: 412-782-7060

Ruthenium

Overview

One of the rarest metals on Earth. It is used to harden platinum and palladium and as a catalyst in the chemicals industry. Ruthenium is one of the most effective hardeners for platinum and palladium, and is alloyed with these metals to make electrical contacts for severe wear resistance. In this application, only thin plated films are used to achieve the necessary wear-resistance. Because of its lower cost and similar properties compared to rhodium, the use as plating material for electric contacts is one of the major applications. The thin coatings are either applied by electroplating or sputtering.  Ruthenium dioxide and lead and bismuth ruthenates are used in thick-film chip resistors. These two electronic applications account for 50% of the ruthenium consumption.

 

 

Metals we sell

The copper, nickel, tin and zinc metals are priced and hedged using the London Metal Exchange (LME), which allows our customer to fix price forward basis current market prices.

Show all

Ammonium Perrhenate Rhenium

Nickel Briquettes

Nickel Powder