Ruthenium chloride hydrate is a dark brown or black solid often used as a powder. The hydrate is hygroscopic and is soluble in water, ethanol, acetone, and a wide range of polar organic solvents. The anhydrous form is insoluble.
Industrially, ruthenium trichloride hydrate is produced by dissolving ruthenium oxides in hydrochloric acid. The hydrated salt is obtained by recrystallization.

Ruthenium chloride is most used as a precursor for the synthesis of ruthenium complexes. Our RuCl₃·H₂O with 99.9% trace metals purity is well-suited for applications in materials science. One common application of ruthenium trichloride hydrate is in the synthesis of ruthenium nanoparticles, which are used as catalysts or composited with other materials and used as co-catalysts for both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions. Researchers have used our ruthenium chloride hydrate to produce high-quality, catalytically active ruthenium nanoparticles and ruthenium oxide nanoparticles.
Another common application of ruthenium chloride hydrate is as a precursor for single-atom catalysts. For example, scientists have used ruthenium chloride hydrate for the synthesis of ruthenium single-atom-doped ZrO₂ particles to catalyze nitrogen fixation and for the synthesis of ruthenium single-atom-doped MXenes to catalyze hydrogen evolution. A third common application of ruthenium chloride hydrate is in the synthesis of metal alloys, like PtRuIr, or PtRuFe, which are investigated for electrocatalysis, usually the oxidation of simple organics like methanol or formic acid.
For use in all these applications, also consider our higher-purity ruthenium chloride hydrate, 463779, with trace metals purity greater than 99.98%, which offers the best reproducibility and purity.