Method for purifying ruthenium and related processes

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for purifying ruthenium sources to obtain high purity ruthenium metal without the need for high temperature processing, expensive reagents, complex series of wet processes, or expensive equipment. According to the present invention, a gas stream including ozone (O3) is brought into contact with a ruthenium source, such as a commercial ruthenium metal sponge, in one or more reaction vessels. The ozone reacts with the ruthenium present in the ruthenium source to form ruthenium tetraoxide (RuO4), a compound that is a gas at the reaction conditions. The ruthenium tetraoxide, along with unreacted ozone and the remainder of the gas stream is then fed into a collection vessel where a major portion of the gaseous ruthenium tetraoxide is thermally reduced to form ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) deposits within the collection vessel. The deposited ruthenium dioxide is then reduced, preferably with hydrogen, to produce highly pure ruthenium metal that is, in turn removed from the collection vessel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.