Rhenium is expensive, and it was not until 1950 that rhenium was transformed from a laboratory curiosity into an important new metal.
Rhenium is widely used in various sectors of modern industry, mainly as a catalyst for oil industry and automobile industry, oil reforming catalyst, electronics industry and aerospace industry rhenium alloy.
Rhenium is mainly used: 1, as a catalyst for the oil industry. 2. Widely used in radio, television and vacuum technology. 3, is a primary high temperature instrument material. 4. It is also used to make electric filament, the shell of man-made satellite and rocket, the protective plate of atomic reactor, etc. 5, tungsten-rhenium thermocouple at 3100℃ also does not soften, tungsten or molybdenum alloy in 25% of the rhenium can increase the extension function; Rhenium is used as a high-temperature coating on rockets, and is needed for spacecraft instruments and high-temperature components such as thermal shielding, arc discharge, and electrical contactors.
The characteristics of tungsten-rhenium thermocouple are: hot electrode wire melting point is high (3300℃), steam pressure, easy oxidation; Good chemical stability in non - oxidizing atmosphere. Electromotive force is big, sensitivity is tall, the mainest still is the price is cheap. Tungsten-rhenium thermocouples developed a kind of high temperature thermocouple is 60 s, W/(re W - 26), (W - 3 re)/(W - 25 re), (5 W - re)/(W re - 26), and (5 W - re)/(re) W - 20, etc. Long-term use temperature is 2000 ~ 2400℃, short-term use up to 3000℃.
In the low-temperature thermocouple (au-2.1co)/Cu thermocouple, the thermoelectric potential rate above 10K is greater than 10v /K. Alloys containing trace amounts (about 0.07 atomic percentage) of iron in gold and thermocouples composed of nickel-chromium alloys have a thermoelectric potential rate greater than 10 kelvin at the liquid helium temperature (4K). (pt-0.1 Mo)/(pt-5 Mo), (pt-1 Mo)/(pt-5 Mo), and the alloy of tungsten and 0.5-1 (atomic percentage) osmium with tungsten and rhenium alloy thermocouple can be used under nuclear irradiation conditions. In addition to metal materials, graphite and refractory compounds and other non-metallic materials can also be used as high temperature thermocouple. The advantages of this kind of material are high melting point, stable high temperature performance, high thermoelectric potential and thermoelectric potential rate; The disadvantage is that the material is brittle, graphite is easy to absorb moisture and change thermoelectricity, repeatability is poor, is still in the research and development.
