Osmium is one of the platinum group metals, which is grayish blue. High melting point, about 3050℃. The density is 22.5g/cm3. Osmium is not easy to process even at high temperature, and is usually only used as an alloying element.

Osmium has poor oxidation resistance. A blue osmium dioxide film was formed on the surface of osmium in air at room temperature. The reaction between nitric acid and osmium will also produce osmium tetroxide. These two oxides are volatile toxic compounds that can stimulate skin adhesion. Osmium and platinum group metals are often born together in nature.

Use of osmium

Osmium can be used as catalyst in industry. When osmium is used as a catalyst for synthetic ammonia or hydrogenation, high conversion can be obtained at low temperature. If a little osmium is mixed into platinum, a hard and sharp osmium platinum alloy scalpel can be made.

Osmium-iridium alloy can be made of osmium and a certain amount of iridium, such as silver-white dots on the tips of some advanced gold pens. Osmium-iridium alloy is hard and wear-resistant, and can be used as bearings for clocks and important instruments with long service life.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-osmium.