Appearance and Characteristics
Harmful effects:
Rhodium is considered to be non-toxic. Some of its compounds are highly toxic and carcinogenic.
Characteristics:
Rhodium is a rare, hard, silvery-white, lustrous metal.
It is one of the of the six platinum group metals consisting of platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium and ruthenium.
It is highly reflective and extremely resistant to corrosion.
It is not attacked by most acids.
When present in compounds, rhodium exists mostly in the trivalent state, Rh3+.
Rhodium’s salts form rose-colored aqueous solutions.
Uses of Rhodium
The majority of rhodium is used as a catalyst in catalytic converters. It is also used to catalyze industrial processes.
Rhodium is used as an alloying agent for hardening and improving the corrosion resistance of platinum and palladium.
As a result of its low electrical resistance, low and stable contact resistance, and its stability against corrosion rhodium is used as an electrical contact material.
The metal is used in jewelry and for decorations.