A study of selected properties of rhenium sulphide dispersion

Due to potential application of rhenium sulphide in medicine and industry, this study is focused on the properties of synthetic and commercial rhenium sulphide. The main reaction of rhenium sulphide preparation involves potassium perrhenate and sodium thiosulphate in the acidic environment giving a mixture of rhenium sulphide and sulphur. The next step is removing sulphur by its dissolution in ether. Stabilization by Povidone K-25 is needed to obtain rhenium sulphide dispersed with the grain size of 0.5–4 m. The extrapolated value of pHiep for synthesised rhenium sulphide is 2.3 whereas for commercial samples this value is lower than 2. For synthetic sample a dependence of zeta potential on the carrier electrolyte concentration is found. It is larger than that for the commercial sample, probably due to surface oxidation during synthesis or purification.