Rhenium is used in specialized high-temperature alloys and catalysts. It contributes to some nickel-based single-crystal turbine blades and to tungsten- or molybdenum-based materials. Commercial recovery from molybdenum-processing residues connects this scarce element's engineering value to the production of a more widely used metal.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
Why is adding rhenium to a turbine alloy a tradeoff rather than a rule to add more?
Rhenium-containing nickel superalloy
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Begin with a nickel superalloy
Selected turbine components use nickel-based superalloys containing rhenium. Nickel supplies the main matrix while rhenium joins other alloy constituents.
Explore the model (optional)
ReFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D75 visible sites
An electron censusDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
[Xe] 4f14 5d5 6s2. Grouping electrons by principal shell connects the neutral-atom configuration to periodic-table patterns.
What this representation means
A three-dimensional counting diagram. Dots are count markers, not measured electron positions; spherical placement and spacing are arbitrary. There are no electron trajectories here. Orbitals describe quantum states.
Rhenium was identified in 1925 through the work of Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, and Otto Berg, filling a long-standing gap below manganese in the periodic table. Separating useful quantities was difficult because it was widely dispersed. Later research made that scarcity technologically significant; NASA studies published in 2010 examined how rhenium and other additions balance turbine-alloy strength, temperature capability, and density.
1925
Rhenium identified
Noddack, Tacke, and Berg established element 75.
2010
Turbine-alloy tradeoffs studied
NASA published work on low-density nickel superalloy design.
Rhenium is recovered largely through processing associated with molybdenum , including molybdenite. Its concentration in an can be small even when a stream makes recovery practical. This is a byproduct relationship: the element's resource story depends on another metal's extraction and the handling of intermediate materials.
Rhenium is a refractory metal used in demanding alloys and materials. In nickel-based superalloys it contributes to resistance against deformation during hot service. Alloy performance also depends on other elements, structure, and cooling. Natural rhenium includes a long-lived radioactive , so it should not be called categorically nonradioactive.
Each section links its supporting references. Descriptions and diagrams were authored for this atlas. Source checks completed. Source checks dated 2026-09-06.
CITE THIS PAGE
Family labels and the group-3 layout are teaching conventions. A table position does not establish an unknown bulk property. Electronic configurations refer to neutral atoms; ions and material environments require their own account.
Read each reference property together with its units, conditions and the reference information below.
Not yet recorded: electron affinity, second ionization energy, ground-state term symbol, van der waals radius, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, electrical resistivity, crystal structure, lattice parameter a, space group, abundance in seawater, abundance in the universe, annual production, supply-risk listing, hazard classification, biological role, cas registry number, pubchem cid, wikidata item. These families are declared and awaiting an ingestion run against the source each names; they are listed here rather than shown as empty rows.
Physical
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Phase at 20 °C
solid
293.15 K, 101.325 kPa
Melting point in K
3459 K
at standard pressure unless noted
Boiling point in K
5869 K
101.325 kPa
Density in g/cm³
21.02 g/cm³
solids and liquids at 293 K; gases at 273 K and 101.325 kPa
Atomic and electronic
Intended reference: Pauling electronegativity scale · Widely tabulated; original in The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Electronegativity in Pauling
1.9 Pauling
Pauling scale
First ionization energy in kJ/mol
760 kJ/mol
gas-phase neutral atom, ground state
Covalent radius in pm
151 pm
single-bond covalent radius
Common oxidation states
+4, +7
states met in ordinary compounds; not exhaustive
Occurrence and identity
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Abundance in the crust in mg/kg
0.0007 mg/kg
upper continental crust, mass fraction
Has stable isotopes
Yesderived
Discovery year in CE
1925 CEderived
WHERE IT SITS AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS
Electronegativity across period 6
Re 1.9 Pauling · Rhenium
Electronegativity across period 6. Exact values.
Cs
0.79
Ba
0.89
La
1.1
Ce
1.12
Pr
1.13
Nd
1.14
Sm
1.17
Eu
1.2
Gd
1.2
Tb
1.1
Dy
1.22
Ho
1.23
Er
1.24
Tm
1.25
Yb
1.1
Lu
1.27
Hf
1.3
Ta
1.5
W
2.36
Re
1.9
Os
2.2
Ir
2.2
Pt
2.28
Au
2.54
Hg
2
Tl
1.62
Pb
2.33
Bi
2.02
Po
2
At
2.2
Electronegativity down group 7
Re 1.9 Pauling · Rhenium
Electronegativity down group 7. Exact values.
Mn
1.55
Tc
1.9
Re
1.9
The trend uses the same reference-property values as the periodic table. Elements with no recorded value are left out of the line rather than drawn at zero.
