Ruthenium - Material Information

Ruthenium (Ru) is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group, notable for its exceptional hardness, high melting point, and outstanding corrosion resistance. It is typically found alloyed with platinum or palladium and serves as a critical strengthening and stabilizing additive in high-performance materials across electronics, catalysis, and aerospace industries.

Material Overview

Ruthenium crystallizes in a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, exhibiting a density of 12.37 g/cm³ and an impressive melting point of 2334 °C. The metal maintains excellent mechanical and thermal stability, with thermal conductivity values of approximately 117 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹ and electrical resistivity near 7.6 µ?·cm (Masahira et al., 2015). Ruthenium’s chemical inertness arises from its stable surface oxide layer, providing remarkable resistance to acids and oxidation at high temperatures. Alloying Ru with titanium, molybdenum, or iridium enhances strength, hardness, and thermal conductivity—properties crucial for structural and electronic applications. Murakami et al. (2021) reported that Ir–Ru alloys display tensile strengths exceeding 1000 MPa with excellent ductility after thermal annealing at 2273 K, demonstrating ruthenium’s potent role as a hardening element in refractory systems.

Applications and Advantages

Ruthenium’s ability to improve corrosion and wear resistance makes it indispensable in platinum and palladium alloys used for electrical contacts, thermocouples, and catalytic electrodes. Small additions of Ru to titanium alloys significantly enhance fatigue resistance and stress-corrosion performance (Leonov et al., 2017), while Ru-doped Ti–Nb alloys exhibit yield strengths above 900 MPa and enhanced biocompatibility (Biesiekierski et al., 2017). Furthermore, RuAl intermetallics have attracted interest for high-temperature structural applications due to their good ductility and oxidation resistance (Smith & Lang, 1995). Ruthenium’s catalytic activity and stability under extreme environments also make it vital for hydrogen evolution reactions and chemical process equipment.

Goodfellow Availability

Goodfellow supplies high-purity ruthenium metal and alloy products suitable for research and industrial applications demanding superior mechanical strength, oxidation resistance, and electrical stability. Custom dimensions and laboratory-scale quantities are available. Explore ruthenium and other platinum-group metals through the Goodfellow product finder.

References

• Biesiekierski, A., Lin, J., Li, Y., Ping, D., Yamabe-Mitarai, Y., & Wen, C. (2017). Impact of ruthenium on mechanical properties, biological response and thermal processing of ?-type Ti–Nb–Ru alloys. Acta Biomaterialia, 48, 461–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ACTBIO.2016.09.012
• Murakami, R., Kamada, K., Oikawa, K., & Yoshikawa, A. (2021). Mechanical and thermoelectric properties of iridium–ruthenium alloy grown by the micro-pulling-down method. Journal of Crystal Growth, 573, 126256. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCRYSGRO.2021.126256
• Masahira, Y., Ohishi, Y., Kurosaki, K., Muta, H., & Yamanaka, S. (2015). Effect of Mo content on thermal and mechanical properties of Mo–Ru–Rh–Pd alloys. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 457, 182–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JNUCMAT.2014.10.009
• Leonov, V. P., Chudakov, E. V., & Malinkina, Y. Y. (2017). The influence of microadditives of ruthenium on the structure, corrosion-mechanical strength, and fractography of titanium alloys. Inorganic Materials: Applied Research, 8(4), 473–480. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075113317040165
• Smith, E. G., & Lang, C. (1995). High temperature resistivity and thermo-emf of RuAl. Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, 33(8), 1319–1323. https://doi.org/10.1016/0956-716X(95)00374-5