Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77.
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23 Facts About Iridium
2.
Iridium was discovered in 1803 among insoluble impurities in natural platinum.
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3.
Iridium metal is employed when high corrosion resistance at high temperatures is needed, as in high-performance spark plugs, crucibles for recrystallization of semiconductors at high temperatures, and electrodes for the production of chlorine in the chloralkali process.
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4.
Iridium is found in meteorites in much higher abundance than in the Earth's crust.
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5.
Iridium is the most corrosion-resistant metal known: it is not attacked by acids, including aqua regia.
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6.
Iridium reacts directly with sulfur at atmospheric pressure to yield iridium disulfide.
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7.
Iridium has two naturally occurring, stable isotopes, Ir and Ir, with natural abundances of 37.
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8.
Iridium pentafluoride is a strong oxidant, but it is a tetramer, F, formed by four corner-sharing octahedra.
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9.
Iridium complexes played a pivotal role in the development of Carbon–hydrogen bond activation, which promises to allow functionalization of hydrocarbons, which are traditionally regarded as unreactive.
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10.
Iridium obtained dark red crystals by a sequence of reactions with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid.
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11.
Iridium named iridium after Iris, the Greek winged goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the Olympian gods, because many of the salts he obtained were strongly colored.
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12.
Iridium is one of the nine least abundant stable elements in Earth's crust, having an average mass fraction of 0.
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13.
Iridium is found in secondary deposits, combined with platinum and other platinum group metals in alluvial deposits.
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14.
Iridium is found within marine organisms, sediments, and the water column.
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15.
Iridium is one of the characteristic elements of extraterrestrial rocks, and, along with osmium, can be used as a tracer element for meteoritic material in sediment.
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16.
Iridium is obtained commercially as a by-product from nickel and copper mining and processing.
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17.
Iridium are used, for example, for multi-pored spinnerets, through which a plastic polymer melt is extruded to form fibers, such as rayon.
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18.
Iridium compounds are used as catalysts in the Cativa process for carbonylation of methanol to produce acetic acid.
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19.
Iridium complexes are often active for asymmetric hydrogenation both by traditional hydrogenation.
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20.
Iridium is often used as a coating for non-conductive materials in preparation for observation in scanning electron microscopes .
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21.
Iridium has been used in the radioisotope thermoelectric generators of unmanned spacecraft such as the Voyager, Viking, Pioneer, Cassini, Galileo, and New Horizons.
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22.
Iridium proved to be the best choice for reflecting X-rays after nickel, gold, and platinum were tested.
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23.
Iridium is used in particle physics for the production of antiprotons, a form of antimatter.
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