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closed Osmium 99.95 1 toz arc melted ingot, rarest stable element on earth $950


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Ships from Lodi, Wisconsin, USA

Osmium has an atomic number of 77, and lies below iron and ruthenium in the periodic table, in the platinum group of noble metals. There is general agreement that osmium is the rarest stable element in the earth's crust, rarer than platinum and 1000 times rarer than gold. It is one of only four elements (the others are rhenium, tungsten, and carbon) with a melting temperature above 3000°C-- higher than the boiling temperature of iron. It is the densest of all naturally occurring elements, with a specific gravity of 22.59, twice that of lead. Supply of the metal is very limited. Worldwide annual production is only about 500 kg. One ounce of osmium  is to annual osmium production what 100,000 tons of iron is to annual iron production. Osmium currently is the least utilized of the platinum group metals, its applications being limited to serving as a catalyst in petroleum refining, recovering occult fingerprints in forensics, the production of super hard and chemically resistant alloys, as a stain in transmission electron microscopy, and for making extremely durable and reflective scientific mirrors. As materials science advances and new uses are discovered, the price of the metal no doubt will rise.

 

Like most other platinum group metals osmium is almost always traded as a powder, which is convenient for chemists but a pain for everyone else. Given its extremely high melting point fusing osmium powder into ingots is difficult and expensive. There probably are no more than a few hundred ingots of fused osmium in existence. Ingots of sintered powder are available, but the true character of the metal, including the unique blue tint of its luster, can properly be seen only in fairly large pieces that have been formed by melting. Osmium is one of the least chemically reactive metals. Acids, including aqua regia, don't touch it. Very fine osmium powder slowly reacts with oxygen in air to produce a toxic and volatile oxide, but only the powder does this. Ingots formed by melting or by high quality sintering do not oxidize at terrestrial temperatures and are completely safe to handle. They are a choking hazard, however, so keep them away from small children.

For a metal, osmium is very hard (7 on Mohs' scale), and only diamond is (possibly) more incompressible. However, osmium also is brittle and could shatter if hit hard enough, so don't do that. Osmium also has an interesting set of isotopes, most of which can form only in supernovae. Forget gold. All the cool kids want osmium! Gold, platinum, and palladium are osmium's poor cousins.

Note: My prices reflect the cost of the raw metal powders, fabrication costs, and domestic and international shipping. My average profit is about 30%, which I think is fair, considering the effort it takes to get these things.







 

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