On the volatility of ruthenium

Abstract

When annealing the evaporation residue formed by evaporating a solution containing ruthenium, phosphates and nitrates, ruthenium volatilizes. The amount of volatilized ruthenium (both¹⁰⁶Ru traces and milligram amuonts of Ru) depends on the solution composition before evaporation and on the temperature and time of annealing. Volatility occurs at a temperature as low as 300°C. We suppose that the volatility is due to thermal decomposition of the ruthenium compounds with phosphates. The released atoms of ruthenium are oxidized by the decomposition products of the nitrate. The formation of complex compounds of ruthenium with phosphates during the evaporation of the solution follows from the data of elemental and spectral analysis and ion exchange chromatography.