Speaking of ***, there are many kinds, so which one is the most expensive of all the natural metals?
When it comes to ***, we always think first**, it is indeed the most famous***, you can also say that it is the most beautiful***, but it is really not the most expensive natural metal. And what about platinum?It is true that processed platinum products are higher than those of products, but this is mainly because platinum is more difficult to process, but in terms of the value of the metal itself, platinum is actually slightly lower than it. However, the world's most expensive natural metal is really related to platinum, because they are both platinum metals, which is rhodium metal.
How expensive is rhodium metal?
We can compare it to the current market at about $65 per gram, while rhodium metal has reached $420 per gram, while historically, rhodium metal has soared to $560 per gram. So why is rhodium metal so expensive?Anything, as long as it is expensive, then it must be scarce, indeed, rhodium metal is the rarest of all platinum metals, according to the analysis of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the amount of rhodium in the earth's crust is only 0 parts per million000037, it is estimated that the global rhodium reserves should not exceed 3,000 tons.
Rhodium is unevenly distributed across the globe, with South Africa being the main producer, producing around 10 to 15 tonnes of rhodium per year.
The second largest producer of rhodium in the world is Russia, with production ranging from 3 to 5 tonnes per year. All combined, the average annual global rhodium production should be around 16 tons. Compared to Earth, rhodium is relatively high in other asteroids or meteorites, so if humans have the ability to exploit interstellar resources in the future, the problem of rhodium scarcity may be solved. Of course, the high value of rhodium is not only because of its scarcity, because it is determined by value, and the relationship between supply and demand is only an influencing factor, so what is the value of rhodium?
Rhodium is a very strong metal with great resistance to corrosion.
Speaking of corrosion, aqua regia, which is made of concentrated hydrochloric acid and concentrated nitric acid, is very corrosive, but at room temperature, it has no way to take rhodium. Rhodium is not only corrosion-resistant, but it is also an inert metal that does not produce oxides, even after heating. In addition, it is also resistant to high temperatures, even if it is placed in 600 degrees of water, it will not change its properties, and its highest melting point can reach 1964. It is precisely because rhodium has such powerful properties that it naturally has a wide range of uses.
The main application area of rhodium is in the automotive industry, where it is indispensable for the production of catalytic converters.
Compared to other platinum-based metals, rhodium can help filter nitrogen oxides and reduce harmful emissions from automobiles. Of course, electric vehicles do not use catalytic converters, so after 2019, the decline in rhodium may also be related to the rapid development of the electric vehicle industry. However, there is no need to worry about rhodium, even if the automotive industry no longer needs rhodium in the future, rhodium is still a metal resource in short supply. Because rhodium has strong corrosion resistance and strength, it is widely used in the coating industry, after adding rhodium, the wear resistance, service life and overall quality of the coating have been greatly improved, it can be said that it is indispensable for automotive paint and electroplating deposition coating.
Rhodium has extremely high conductivity and stability, so it is also widely used in the field of electronic manufacturing, and rhodium is indispensable in the manufacturing process of resistors, circuit boards, hard disk drives and other components.
Rhodium is also an important catalyst in the chemical industry, where it is used in the synthesis of alkyl compounds, epoxy compounds and aldehydes. Finally, there is the field of jewelry, because of the high hardness of rhodium, corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance, so the jewelry made from it has a long brightness and a long life, and Queen Victoria of England added metal rhodium to a crown created in 1858.