Discovery of rhodium

Rhodium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, the English chemist who also found palladium, while he was processing crude platinum ore in London. After removing platinum and palladium from the solution, he was left with a deep red salt, and from it he obtained a new metal. He named it from the Greek rhodon, meaning rose, because of the colour of its compounds. Rhodium is among the rarest and most valuable metals, and it is extremely resistant to corrosion. By far the largest use is in the catalytic converters of cars, where it reduces harmful nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases. It is also used as a bright, hard plating on jewellery, mirrors and searchlight reflectors.

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