A rhenium review – from discovery to novel applications

Abstract

Purpose: The article characterises rhenium in terms of its physiochemical properties,most popular methods of manufacturing and key applications. The examples of rhenium ata nanometric scales are also presented, taking into account the latest literature reports inthis field. The objective of the article is also to present advanced nanocomposite materialsconsisting of nanostructured rhenium permanently attached to selected carbon nanomaterials- Single Walled Carbon NanoTubes (SWCNTs), Double Walled Carbon NanoTubes (DWCNTs),Multi Walled Carbon NanoTubes (MWCNTs) and Single Walled Carbon Nanohorns (SWCNHs).Design/methodology/approach: The article delineates various manufacturing methodsat a mass and nanometric scale. It also describes a custom fabrication method of carbonrheniumnanocomposites and the results of investigations performed in a transmissionelectron microscope (TEM) for nanocomposites of the following type: MWCNTs-Re,SWCNTs/DWCNTs-Re, SWCNTs-Re and SWCNHs-Re.Findings: Rhenium has been gaining growing importance in industry for years, and itsapplications are very diverse, including: heat resistant alloys, anti-corrosive alloys, rheniumand rhenium alloy coatings, elements of electrical equipment, radiotherapy, chemistry andanalytical technology and catalysis. Carbon-metallic nanocomposites are currently enjoyingstrong attention of research institutions.Research limitations/implications: The development and optimisation of fabricationprocesses of materials containing carbon nanotubes or carbon nanotubes coated with metalnanoparticles, especially rhenium, is a weighty aspect of advanced materials engineering.Practical implications: Newly created nanocomposite materials, developed as a responseto the market demand, are interesting, state-of-the-art materials dedicated to variousapplications, especially as gas or fluid sensors, and as materials possessing catalytic properties.Originality/value: The article describes nanocomposites of the following types: MWCNTs-Re, SWCNTs/DWCNTs-Re, SWCNTs-Re, SWCNHs-Re, created as a result of hightemperaturereduction of a precursor of rhenium (HReO4 or NH4ReO4) to metallic rhenium.This metal is deposited on carbon nanomaterials as nanoparticles, or inside of them asnanoparticles or nanowires whose size and dispersion are dependent upon the conditionsof a technological process.