Iridium was apparent in 1803 a part of baffling algae in accustomed platinum. Smithson Tennant, the primary discoverer, called the iridium for the Greek goddess Iris, clothing of the rainbow, because of the arresting and assorted colors of its salts. Iridium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust, with anniversary assembly and burning of alone three tonnes. 191Ir and 193Ir are the alone two by itself occurring isotopes of iridium as able-bodied as the alone abiding isotopes; the closing is the added abounding of the two.
The a lot of important iridium compounds in use are the salts and acids it forms with chlorine, admitting iridium aswell forms a amount of organometallic compounds acclimated in automated catalysis, and in research. Iridium metal is active if top bane attrition at top temperatures is needed, as in high-end atom plugs, crucibles for recrystallization of semiconductors at top temperatures, and electrodes for the assembly of chlorine in the chloralkali process. Iridium radioisotopes are acclimated in some radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
