Rhodium - 45Rh: uses
The following uses for rhodium are gathered from a number of sources as well as from anecdotal comments. I would be delighted to receive corrections as well as additional referenced uses.
- alloying agent to harden platinum and palladium. Such alloys are used for furnace windings, thermocouple elements, bushings for glass fibre production, electrodes for aircraft spark plugs, and laboratory crucibles
- used as an electrical contact material as it has a low electrical resistance, a low and stable contact resistance, and is highly resistant to corrosion
- plated rhodium produced by electroplating or evaporation is exceptionally hard and is used for optical instruments
- used for jewellery
- industrial catalyst
- rhodium is used as part of the catalytic system in car catalytic converters, used to clean up exhaust gases to some extent