High temperature interactions of metal oxides with rhenium in vacuo

Among the high temperature metals, rhenium and tungsten are the only two elements that have melting points over 30000C. For use as high temperature devices, rhenium has probably more suitable properties than tungsten as the latter becomes brittle upon heating to a high temperature. A report is presented on the interactions of rhenium with Al2O3, MgO, TiO2 and ZrO2 at temperatures between approximately 11000C and 24500C. (U.K.)