Rhenium Applications

Approximately 65% of produced Rhenium is used in Pt-Re catalysts for oil-refining industry in high-octane petrol production. Rhenium is a dopant in W - Mo- and Ni, Cr, Mo, Ti-based high resistant alloys. It is a component of electric contacts, coatings and thermal couple materials, as well as in X-ray tubes, flashes, measuring instruments; it may be used as a construction material in nuclear plants with sodium coolers. The ¹⁸⁷Re beta-decay reaction is put on the basis of rhenium-osmium is a rocks and meteorites dating method. Artificial isotopes are used as indicators: ¹⁸³Re (T_1/2 70 days), ¹⁸⁶Re (T_1/2 88.9 h), and ¹⁸⁸Re (T_1/2 16.7 h).