Osmium information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purityproperties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
 Osmium has the highest melting point and the lowest vapor pressure of any of the platinum group of metals. Osmium tetroxide has recently been used to detect fingerprints and as an aid to stain fatty tissue for microscope slides. The metal is almost entirely used to produce very hard alloys with other metals of the platinum group. Osmium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder.
Osmium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are
available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nanoparticles and nanopowders provide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Ruthenium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Osmium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Osmium is a Block D, Group 8, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Osmium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 32, 14, 2 and its electronic configuration is [Xe] 4f14 5d6 6s2. In its elemental form osmium's CAS number is 7440-04-2. The osmium atom has a radius of 133.8.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 200.pm. Osmium tetroxide (OsO4) can cause eye, lung and skin damage which makes it very toxic.
 All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Osmium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Osmium was first discovered by Smithson Tennant in 1803. The origin of the name Osmium comes from the Greek word osme meaning a smell or odor.
 osmium |
 Osmium |
 osmio |
 Ósmio |
 osmio |
 Osmium |
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of hafnium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Os-184 |
183.952491 |
0.02 |
| Os-186 |
185.953838 |
1.58 |
| Os-187 |
186.955748 |
1.6 |
| Os-188 |
187.955836 |
13.3 |
| Os-189 |
188.958145 |
16.1 |
| Os-190 |
189.958445 |
26.4 |
| Os-192 |
191.961479 |
41.0 |
The following table shows the abundance of Osmium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
| |
Typical Human Body |
Universe |
| by Weight |
no data |
3 ppb |
| by Atom |
no data |
0.02 ppb |
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for osmium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Osmium compounds have no biological role.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for osmium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
| 1st Ionization Energy |
814.17 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
- kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
- kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to osmium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 9.5 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 2.2. The thermal conductivity of osmium is 87.6 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for osmium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
29.3 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
738.06 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
791 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for Osmium
- Dimethylaminoborane (H(2)BNMe(2)) Coordination to Late Transition Metal Centers: Snapshots of the B-H Oxidative Addition Process.
Bénac-Lestrille G, Helmstedt U, Vendier L, Alcaraz G, Clot E, Sabo-Etienne S.
Inorg Chem. 2011 Sep 28. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21954867
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- Matrix infrared spectroscopic and computational studies on the reactions of osmium and iron atoms with carbon monoxide and dinitrogen mixtures.
Lu ZH, Xu Q.
J Phys Chem A. 2011 Oct 6;115(39):10783-8. Epub 2011 Sep 14.
PMID:
21877714
[PubMed - in process]
- Compartmentalization of pancreatic secretory zymogen granules as revealed by low-voltage transmission electron microscopy.
Bendayan M, Londono I, Paransky E.
J Histochem Cytochem. 2011 Oct;59(10):899-907. Epub 2011 Aug 10.
PMID:
21832147
[PubMed - in process]
- Electrochemistry of redox-active self-assembled monolayers.
Eckermann AL, Feld DJ, Shaw JA, Meade TJ.
Coord Chem Rev. 2010 Aug 1;254(15-16):1769-1802.
PMID:
20563297
[PubMed]
- Redox reactivity of photogenerated osmium(ii) complexes.
Dempsey JL, Winkler JR, Gray HB.
Dalton Trans. 2011 Sep 2. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21892445
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- EFTEM cytochemistry and sexual dimorphism of secretory granules in male and female hamster submandibular glands.
Moriguchi K, Utsumi M, Ohno N.
Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn. 2011 May;88(1):11-6.
PMID:
21882591
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
- Structure-activity relationships for organometallic osmium arene phenylazopyridine complexes with potent anticancer activity.
Fu Y, Habtemariam A, Basri AM, Braddick D, Clarkson GJ, Sadler PJ.
Dalton Trans. 2011 Aug 22. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21860862
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- Ultrastructural characterization of porcine oocytes and adjacent follicular cells during follicle development: lipid component evolution.
Silva RC, Báo SN, P R Jivago JL, Lucci CM.
Theriogenology. 2011 Aug 9. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21835450
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- Synthesis and Properties of Oxo-carboxylato- and Dioxo-Bridged Diosmium Complexes of Tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine.
Sugimoto H, Kitayama K, Ashikari K, Matsunami C, Ueda N, Umakoshi K, Hosokoshi Y, Sasaki Y, Itoh S.
Inorg Chem. 2011 Sep 19;50(18):9014-23. Epub 2011 Aug 9.
PMID:
21827180
[PubMed - in process]
- Incidence of pulmonary fat embolism at autopsy: an undiagnosed epidemic.
Eriksson EA, Pellegrini DC, Vanderkolk WE, Minshall CT, Fakhry SM, Cohle SD.
J Trauma. 2011 Aug;71(2):312-5.
PMID:
21825932
[PubMed - in process]
- Use of different morphological techniques to analyze the cellular composition of the adult zebrafish optic tectum.
Corbo CP, Othman NA, Gutkin MC, Alonso AD, Fulop ZL.
Microsc Res Tech. 2011 Aug 5. doi: 10.1002/jemt.21061. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21823204
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- Ultrastructural changes in the equine colonic mucosa after ischaemia and reperfusion.
Grosche A, Morton AJ, Graham AS, Sanchez LC, Blikslager AT, Polyak MM, Freeman DE.
Equine Vet J. 2011 Aug;43 Suppl 39:8-15. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00402.x.
PMID:
21790749
[PubMed - in process]
- Ultracentrifugation Deforms Unfixed Influenza A Virions.
Sugita Y, Noda T, Sagara H, Kawaoka Y.
J Gen Virol. 2011 Jul 27. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21795472
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
- Focussed ion beam milling and scanning electron microscopy of brain tissue.
Knott G, Rosset S, Cantoni M.
J Vis Exp. 2011 Jul 6;(53). pii: 2588. doi: 10.3791/2588.
PMID:
21775953
[PubMed - in process]
- On-chip DNA methylation analysis using osmium complexation.
Sugizaki K, Umemoto T, Okamoto A.
J Nucleic Acids. 2011;2011:480570. Epub 2011 May 15.
PMID:
21772994
[PubMed - in process]
- Histochemical and ultrastructural changes of sternomastoid muscle in aged Wistar rats.
Ciena AP, de Almeida SR, Alves PH, Bolina-Matos Rde S, Dias FJ, Issa JP, Iyomasa MM, Watanabe IS.
Micron. 2011 Dec;42(8):871-6. Epub 2011 Jun 13.
PMID:
21767955
[PubMed - in process]
- Quantitative three-dimensional imaging of live avian embryonic morphogenesis via micro-computed tomography.
Henning AL, Jiang MX, Yalcin HC, Butcher JT.
Dev Dyn. 2011 Aug;240(8):1949-57. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.22694.
PMID:
21761480
[PubMed - in process]
- En route to osmium analogues of KP1019: synthesis, structure, spectroscopic properties and antiproliferative activity of trans-[Os(IV)Cl4(Hazole)2].
Büchel GE, Stepanenko IN, Hejl M, Jakupec MA, Keppler BK, Arion VB.
Inorg Chem. 2011 Aug 15;50(16):7690-7. Epub 2011 Jul 8.
PMID:
21739939
[PubMed - in process]
- Structure and bonding analysis of dimethylgallyl complexes of iron, ruthenium, and osmium [(?5-C5H5)(CO)2M(GaMe2)] and [(?5-C5H5)(Me3P)2M(GaMe2)].
Pandey KK.
J Phys Chem A. 2011 Aug 4;115(30):8578-85. Epub 2011 Jul 13.
PMID:
21726095
[PubMed - in process]
- [Structure and ultrastructure of the ovary of Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Osteichthyes: Cichlidae)].
Viedma R, Franco J, Bedia C, Guedea Fernández G, Villa Zevallos HB, Barrera Escorcia H.
Rev Biol Trop. 2011 Jun;59(2):743-50. Spanish.
PMID:
21721236
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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