Ruthenium

chemistry · metals · rare elements

Discovered in 1844. A Russian scientist named Karl Ernst Claus found ruthenium at a university in Kazan and named it after Russia, which is called Ruthenia in Latin.

Super unreactive metal. Like other platinum group metals, ruthenium doesn't rust or react with most chemicals, which makes it perfect for things that need to last a really long time.

Hidden in platinum ore. Ruthenium usually hides as a tiny part of platinum ores found in the Ural Mountains and in North and South America, so miners have to work hard to extract it.

Powers modern technology. Most ruthenium gets used in electrical contacts that wear slowly and in computer chip manufacturing, where it helps create the patterns on semiconductor photomasks.

Growing production. The world produced about 19 tonnes of ruthenium in 2009, but by 2017 that jumped to 35.5 tonnes as technology demanded more of this rare metal.