Properties and Applications of Osmium
Osmium is a rare, hard, brittle, blue-gray transition metal found in trace amounts in osmiridium alloys and ores containing platinum or nickel. With a density of 22.59 g/cm3, osmium is the densest known element occurring naturally in the earth's crust. It has a melting point of 3,030°C (5,486°F) and a boiling point of 5,000°C (9,032°F).
Osmium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust and occurs both as a free metal and in ores. Platinum-group metals, of which osmium is one, are found embedded in sulfide ores where they are chemically linked to nickel, copper, iron and other abundant elements. Osmium is found within sulfides and oxides of other platinum-group metals like platinum and iridium. Russia, South Africa, and Canada are the leading producers.
The dense, hardness, and inert properties of osmium make it suitable for applications requiring durability and wear-resistance. Osmium finds use as tip material in stylus of compact disc players, where it barely wears even after thousands of plays. Osmium is used to make instrument pivots and pen tips in fine mechanical applications. It has formerly been used to strengthen platinum alloys in high-wear applications like electrical contacts.
Osmium tetroxide is a toxic volatile compound that has widespread applications in chemical analysis due to its powerful oxidizing properties. Osmium tetroxide functions as a stain used in microscopy to detect lipids in biological tissue specimens. It reacts with unsaturated lipids to form osmates which appear electron-dense under electron microscope. This staining ability allows osmium tetroxide to visualize thin cellular structures.
Osmium tetroxide is also used in organic synthesis as an oxidizing agent and structural probe. It cleaves carbon-carbon double bonds and esters through osmylation reactions, generating stable osmate esters. This makes it useful for degradation studies of complex molecules into less complex derivatives. Osmium tetroxide selectively stains carbon-carbon double bonds in molecules, allowing their positions to be identified under X-ray crystallography.
However, osmium tetroxide is highly toxic with a strong unpleasant odor. Exposure to osmium tetroxode may cause respiratory irritation, fluid build-up in the lungs, and skin inflammation. It is carcinogenic and causes irritation and damage to eyes. Proper handling equipment should be used when working with osmium tetroxide as it requires very tight controls. Due to environmental and occupational safety issues, osmium tetroxide is increasingly being replaced with alternative less toxic metal complexes and reagents in organic chemistry.
The metal osmium finds varied industrial uses owing to its unparalleled density and hardness. However, widespread applications are restricted due to osmium's high scarcity and costs. Approximately 8-10 tonnes of osmium are produced globally each year, primarily as a byproduct from nickel mining and processing operations. Osmium fetches a high price between $80-110 per gram due to its rarity. Mining output and availability needs to rise substantially before osmium can feature more prominently in advanced engineered materials and technologies. Efforts are ongoing to find cost-effective substitutes and replenish primary supply to facilitate the future use of osmium. Further exploration and mining may uncover larger reserves of this densest naturally occurring element.
Alternative Applications for Osmium
Seeking ways to use osmium more extensively despite its scarcity, scientists are exploring substituting it in high-end applications with less supply constraints. Researchers are working to develop osmium-based alloys and composites which similarly exhibit extreme hardness, durability and lubrication but use significantly reduced osmium content. This could open up new opportunities.
Osmium coatings are being studied for applications in hard disk drives, tribology devices, and prosthetic implants. Thin films of osmium only a few nanometers thick can substantially enhance the wear-resistance and lubricating properties of surfaces. Such coatings use osmium much more economically than bulk material. Deposition techniques continue advancing to apply conformal pure osmium and alloy coatings of precise compositions.
Osmium nanoparticles have shown activity for fuel cell catalysts, nitrogen oxides removal, and biosensors. When osmium is nanostructured, its surface area increases enormously relative to solid bulk material. Only minute quantities of osmium may then be needed per device. Research focuses on optimizing osmium nanoparticle fabrication methods and integrating them into commercial technologies. If successful, this could constitute an important future application for the scarce metal osmium.
osmium remains an elemental metal with immense potential but restricted exploitation due to limited global resources. Ongoing scientific work centers on developing novel osmium alloys, coatings and nanostructures that maintain high performance using drastically less osmium. Alternative applications optimized for scarce supply hold promise to catalyze increased adoption of this density superlative element in special engineered applications going forward.

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Money Singh is a seasoned content writer with over four years of experience in the market research sector. Her expertise spans various industries, including food and beverages, biotechnology, chemical and materials, defense and aerospace, consumer goods, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/money-singh-590844163)