Gold is widely regarded as one of the most precious metals in the world, and its price has remained elevated.
However, even though gold has reached a staggering price of $65 per gram, it is not the most expensive precious metal in the world. In the world of metal, there is an existence that is more precious than gold, and that is the metal rhodium.
Measured in dollars, the price of gold is around $65 per gram, while rhodium is around $420 per gram.
Speaking of which, it will surely arouse the curiosity of many netizens. What exactly is rhodium, and what is so special about it?
Rhodium is a rare and special metal, and its unique properties have made it a source of interest in science, industry, and finance.
First of all, it has extremely high stability and corrosion resistance, so that it remains stable in high temperature, high pressure and corrosive environments, and is not susceptible to oxidation, corrosion or wear. This stability makes it important for the manufacture of corrosion-resistant alloys, catalysts and chemical reactors, especially in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Secondly, it is also one of the most refractory metals in the world, with a high melting point of about 1964 degrees Celsius. This means that it can still remain stable in a high-temperature environment, not easy to melt or deform, and is suitable for high-temperature alloys and industrial processing. In addition, the metal also has good electrical and thermal conductivity, so that it will be widely used in the electronics industry, such as semiconductor manufacturing, electronic components and other fields.
In addition, it has an excellent catalytic effect in chemical reactions, and can accelerate the rate of chemical reactions without participating in them, which makes it an important catalyst. Especially in the fields of organic synthesis, environmental protection and energy, rhodium catalysts are widely used to facilitate the progress of reactions and improve the selectivity and yield of chemical products.
Note: In reality, the application of rhodium is limited by its scarcity and high cost. Rhodium reserves are extremely limited, mainly concentrated in a few countries such as South Africa, which is difficult and expensive to mine. Because of these drawbacks, the market price of rhodium remains high, and it has become a valuable resource in high-end industrial and technological fields.
Although the price of rhodium is high, its unique characteristics and wide application prospects are not immune to the market, and it has become an important strategic metal with broad development potential.
However, a little bit for rhodium doesn't end there. Some experts said: The metal can't even take aqua regia with it, what's going on?
In fact, when I heard such news for the first time, many netizens must have thought it was nonsense and exaggerated!
You know: rhodium metal does have extremely high chemical stability and corrosion resistance.
Aqua regia is a strong acid mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid in a certain ratio, which is commonly used to dissolve metals and other organic matter. However, even this mixture of strong acids cannot react easily with rhodium. This problem does exist.
Rhodium has a very strong lattice structure and chemical bond structure, which makes it resistant to the erosion of the external environment at room temperature. The stability and compactness of its lattice structure makes it difficult for even aqua regia to penetrate and destroys its lattice structure, making it impossible to melt rhodium.
In addition, the chemical properties of rhodium also make it less susceptible to strong acids. Because, the electronic configuration and valence electron structure of the rhodium atom do make it not easy to react with hydrogen ions, or chloride ions.
Another aspect is that rhodium has a very high melting point, up to about 1964 degrees Celsius, which is mentioned above. This means that even if aqua regia is highly corrosive, it does not provide enough temperature and energy to melt rhodium. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of rhodium is also very high, so even if it is locally affected by high temperatures, rhodium can dissipate heat quickly and remain stable.
Therefore, the main reason why rhodium is difficult to melt by aqua regia is that it has a highly stable lattice structure and chemical properties, as well as an extremely high melting point and excellent thermal conductivity.
These properties make rhodium a rare metal that is difficult to be chemically attacked and processed, so it has important application value in industrial and scientific and technological fields.
Now that we understand these principles, let's analyze the application areas of the metal.
From a practical point of view, the metal is also widely used, mainly used in: automotive exhaust treatment systems, chemical catalysts, electronic components, jewelry, etc.
Among them, the automobile exhaust gas treatment system is one of the most important application areas of rhodium, rhodium can catalyze the reduction of harmful gases in automobile exhaust, reduce the emission of pollutants, protect the environment, in addition, with the development of the electronics industry and the popularization of high-tech products, the demand for rhodium is also increasing.
As one of the most expensive metals in the world, rhodium has unique characteristics such as rarity, corrosion resistance, and high melting point, and is widely used in automobiles, chemicals, electronics and other fields.
Its scarcity and versatility make rhodium a valuable resource for investors and the technology sector. However, the supply of rhodium is limited and it is difficult to mine. As a result, its price is likely to remain high and become a shining "star" in the financial markets.