Rhenium is a silvery-white metal with excellent mechanical properties and is an important element in aerospace field. Rhenium is the metal with the highest melting point except tungsten. Besides, rhenium has excellent anti-oxidation and anti-corrosion properties. Its main use is to manufacture single crystal turbine blades of aircraft engines. Single crystal turbine blade is a key component in modern aviation engines. It not only has to withstand high temperature of about 1600℃, tens of atmospheres and tens of thousands of revolutions per minute, but also endures the continuous action of strong centrifugal force. And rhenium is by far the best metal to meet these high requirements!
Rhenium and its alloys can also be used in the shells of satellites and ballistic missiles. Coatings containing rhenium can significantly improve the heat resistance of carbon and graphite parts in low oxygen environments, thereby avoiding carbon pollution and thus achieving higher performance and cleaner spacecraft environments. The rocket's tail flame is so hot that it needs a high-temperature material for its nozzle, and rhenium, a metal with a high melting point, high hardness and high oxidation resistance, is perfect for this! And rhenium is less dense and lighter at the same volume, making it easier to fly.
The greatest use of rhenium is in aerospace. Rhenium is one of the rarest elements in the world, with an average concentration of just one billionth. It has one of the highest melting and boiling points, and the nickel-rhenium superalloy is widely used in the combustion Chambers, turbine blades and exhaust nozzles of jet engines.
Rhenium is harder to come by than diamonds and is expensive, averaging $4,575 a kilogram in 2011. About 7 per cent of rhenium worldwide is used in aircraft engines, which are strategically important. Second, Rhenium is an important catalyst in the chemical industry. It is mainly used in platinum-rhenium catalysts and can be used to produce lead-free, octane gasoline.
