Ruthenium (Ru)

Stable isotopes of ruthenium available from ISOFLEX

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Ruthenium was discovered in 1844 by Karl Karlovich Klaus. It takes its name from the Latin name Ruthenia, meaning “Russia.”

Ruthenium is a hard, silvery-white solid with a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure. It is insoluble in water, acids and aqua regia, and it is attacked by alkaline oxidants and by fused alkalis. When heated in air to 500-700 ºC, ruthenium converts to its dioxide, a black crystalline solid of rutile structure. A trioxide of ruthenium is also known and is formed when the metal is heated above 1000 ºC. Above 1100 ºC the metal loses weight because the trioxide partially volatizes.

Halogens react with ruthenium metal at elevated temperatures. The metal is attacked by chlorine water, bromine water or alcoholic solution of iodine at ambient temperatures. When finely divided metal is heated with carbon monoxide under 200 atm pressure, it converts to pentacarbonyl, a colorless liquid that decomposes to diruthenium nonacarbonyl, a yellow crystalline solid. Ruthenium reacts with cyclopentadiene in ether to form a sandwich complex, a yellow crystalline compound, bis(cyslopentadiene) ruthenium(0), also known as ruthenocene.

Ruthenium alloyed to platinum, palladium, titanium or molybdenum has many applications. Because ruthenium is an effective hardening element for platinum and palladium, such alloys have high resistance to corrosion and oxidation and are used to make electrical contacts for resistance to severe wear. Ruthenium-palladium alloys are used in jewelry, decorations and dental work. The addition of 0.1% ruthenium markedly improves the corrosion resistance of titanium. Ruthenium alloys also make tips for fountain pen nibs, instrument pivots and electrical goods.

Properties of Ruthenium

Research

• Ruthenium isotopic evidence for an inner Solar System origin of the late veneer
• The isotopic nature of the Earth’s accreting material through time