The chemical element rhenium
In its purest form, rhenium is a very hard, platinum-like shining metal that can only be deformed with red heat and is even rarer than gold in the earth’s crust.
At 3,186 °C, it has one of the highest melting points of all metals and is used as an alloying additive in the production of alloys for gas turbine blades due to its heat resistance increasing properties.
Rhenium is also used in the medical sector, for example in the production of anode plates for X-ray equipment.
In the petrochemical industry, around 20% of the rhenium produced worldwide is used in catalytic converters to produce defined high-octane crack gasoline.