ruthenium

American  

[roo-thee-nee-uhm, -theen-yuhm] / ruˈθi ni əm, -ˈθin yəm /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a steel-gray, rare metallic element, belonging to the platinum group of metals. Ru; 101.07; 44; 12.2 at 20°C.

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ruthenium British  

/ ruːˈθiːnɪəm /

noun

1. a hard brittle white element of the platinum metal group. It occurs free with other platinum metals in pentlandite and other ores and is used to harden platinum and palladium. Symbol: Ru; atomic no: 44; atomic wt: 101.07; valency: 0–8; relative density: 12.41; melting pt: 2334°C; boiling pt: 4150°C

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ruthenium Scientific  

/ ro̅o̅-thē′nē-əm /

1. A rare, silvery-gray metallic element that is hard, brittle, and very resistant to corrosion. It is used to harden alloys of platinum and palladium for jewelry and electrical contacts. Atomic number 44; atomic weight 101.07; melting point 2,310°C; boiling point 3,900°C; specific gravity 12.41; valence 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

2. See Periodic Table

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Etymology

Origin of ruthenium

1840–50; < New Latin, named after Ruthenia (from the fact that it was first found in ore from the region); -ium

Example Sentences

By adjusting the ligands and ions arranged around the ruthenium molecules, they demonstrated that a single device can display many different dynamic responses.

From Science Daily

Until now, many of these light-driven processes depended on ruthenium, osmium, or iridium -- elements that are costly, scarce, and create environmental concerns when mined.

From Science Daily

The material, based on a framework of ruthenium, fulfils the requirements of the 'Kitaev quantum spin liquid state' -- an elusive phenomenon that scientists have been trying to understand for decades.

From Science Daily

For the current study, the team focused on a catalyst called ruthenium dioxide that speeds up the oxygen half of the reaction, since that's the bottleneck in the process.

From Science Daily

The discovery allows for simple handling and implementation processes and has shown versatility across a wide array of chemical transformations, making it accessible for non-specialist users to exploit ruthenium catalysis.

From Science Daily