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IRIDIUM (symbol Ir.; atomic weight 19...

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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IRIDIUM (See also:symbol Ir.; atomic See also:weight 193.1)  , one of the metals of the See also:platinum See also:group, discovered in 18o2 by See also:Smithson See also:Tennant during the examination of the See also:residue See also:left when platinum ores are dissolved in aqua regia ; the See also:element occurs in platinum ores in the See also:form of See also:alloys of platinum and See also:iridium, and of See also:osmium and iridium . Many methods have been devised for the separation of these metals (see PLATINUM), one of the best being that of H . St . C . Deville and H . J . Debray (Comptes rendus, 1874, 78, p . 1502) . In this See also:process the osmiridium is fused with See also:zinc and the excess of zinc evaporated; the residue is then ignited with See also:barium nitrate, extracted with See also:water and boiled with nitric See also:acid . The iridium is then precipitated from the See also:solution (as See also:oxide) by the addition of baryta, dissolved in aqua regia, and precipitated as iridium ammonium chloride by the addition of ammonium chloride . The See also:double chloride is fused with See also:nitre, the melt extracted with water and the residue fused with See also:lead, the excess of lead being finally removed by solution in nitric acid and aqua regia . It is a brittle See also:metal of specific gravity 22.4 (Deville and Debray), and is only fusible with See also:great difficulty .

It may be obtained in the spongy form by igniting iridium ammonium chloride, and this variety of the metal readily oxidizes when heated in See also:

air . Two oxides of iridium are known, namely the sesquioxide, Ir203, and the dioxide, Ir02, corresponding to which there are two See also:series of salts, the sesqui-salts and the iridic salts; a third series of salts is also known (the iridious salts) derived from an oxide IrO . Iridium sesquioxide, Ir203, is obtained when See also:potassium iridium chloride is heated with See also:sodium or potassium See also:carbonates, in a stream of See also:carbon dioxide . It is a bluish-See also:black See also:powder which at high temperatures decomposes into the metal, dioxide and See also:oxygen . The hydroxide, Ir(OH)3, may be obtained by the addition of See also:caustic potash to iridium sodium chloride, the mixture being then heated with See also:alcohol . Iridium dioxide, IrO2, may be obtained as small needles by See also:heating the metal to See also:bright redness in a current of oxygen (G . Geisenheimer, Comptes rendus, 1890, IIo, p . 855) . The corresponding hydroxide, Ir(OH)4, is formed when potassium iridate is boiled with ammonium chloride, or when the tetrachloride is boiled with caustic potash or sodium carbonate . It is an See also:indigo-See also:blue powder, soluble in hydrochloric acid, but insoluble in dilute nitric and sulphuric acids . On the oxides see L . See also:Wohler and W .

Witzmann, Zeit. anorg . Chem . (1908), 57, p . 323 . Iridium sesquichloride, IrC13, is obtained when one of the corresponding double chlorides is heated with concentrated sulphuric acid, the mixture being then thrown into water . It is thus obtained as an See also:

olive See also:green precipitate which is insoluble in acids and alkalis . Potassium iridium sesquichloride, KalrCl6'3H20, is obtained by passing See also:sulphur dioxide into a suspension of potassium chloriridate in water until all dissolves, and then adding potassium carbonate to the solution (C . Claus, Jour. prak . Chem., 1847, 42, p . 351) . It forms green prisms which are readily soluble in water . Similar sodium and ammonium compounds are known .

Phoenix-squares

Iridium tetrachloride, IrCl4, is obtained by dissolving the finely divided metal in aqua regia; by dissolving the hydroxide in hydrochloric acid; and by digesting the hydrated sesquichloride with nitric acid . On evaporating the solution (not above 4o° C.) a dark See also:

mass is obtained, which contains a little sesquichloride . It forms double chlorides with the alkaline chlorides . For a bromide see A . Gauthier and M . Riess, Ber., 1909, 42, p . 3905 . Iridium sulphide, IrS, is obtained when the metal is ignited in sulphur vapour . The sesquisulphide, Ir2S3, is obtained as a See also:brown precipitate when sulphuretted See also:hydrogen is passed into a solution of one of the sesqui-salts . It is slightly soluble in potassium sulphide . The disulphide, IrS2, is formed when powdered iridium is heated with sulphur and an alkaline carbonate . It is a dark brown powder .

Iridium forms many ammine derivatives, which are analogous to the corresponding platinum compounds (see M . Skoblikoff, Jahresb., 1852, p . 428; W . See also:

Palmer, Ber., 1889, 22, p . 15; 1890, 23, p . 3810; 1891, 24, p . 2090; Zeit. anorg . Chem., 1896, 13, p . 211) . Iridium is always determined quantitatively by See also:conversion into the metallic See also:state . The atomic See also:weight of the element has been determined in various ways, C . Seubert (Ber., 1878, It, p .

1770), by the See also:

analysis of potassium chloriridate obtaining the value 192.74, and A . Joly (Comptes rendus, 189o, IIo, p . 1131) from analyses of potassium and ammonium chloriridites, the value 191.78 (0 =15.88) .

End of Article: IRIDIUM (symbol Ir.; atomic weight 193.1)
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