The global reserves of rhenium are very small and the price is relatively expensive. In the application, alloys containing rhenium are mostly used. As an alloy additive element, rhenium can greatly improve and enhance the properties of the alloy. Rhenium can form a series of alloys with tungsten, molybdenum, platinum, nickel, thorium, iron, copper and other metals. Among them, rhenium-tungsten, rhenium-molybdenum, and rhenium-nickel series superalloys are the most important alloys of rhenium and are widely used in aviation Industrial sectors such as aerospace and electronics.

W-Re alloy is an alloy composed of tungsten and rhenium. One type is low rhenium alloy, containing less than 5% rhenium; the other type is high rhenium alloy, containing 20% ​​to 30% rhenium. Rhenium is also a rare metal, with fewer resources and more expensive. If not necessary, tungsten alloys without or less rhenium should be used as much as possible.

Tungsten-rhenium alloy and molybdenum-rhenium alloy made by adding appropriate amount of rhenium to tungsten and molybdenum not only have good plasticity, can be processed into various structural materials, but also have the characteristics of high hardness, high strength and high temperature resistance. Molybdenum-rhenium alloys are often used to manufacture high-speed rotating X-ray tube targets, long-life grids for microwave communication, space reactor core heating tubes, high-temperature furnace heating elements, and high-temperature thermocouples. Tungsten rhenium alloy is widely used in high temperature technology, electric vacuum industry, light bulb industry, atomic energy industry, analysis technology, medical treatment and chemical industry. It is often used in the manufacture of special electronic tubes and color picture tube filaments, high temperature components, thermocouples, etc.

Rhenium can improve the creep strength of nickel superalloys, which can be used to make jet engine combustion chambers, turbine blades and exhaust nozzles. Rhenium-nickel alloy is the core material of modern jet engine blades, turbine disks and other important structural parts. The use of rhenium can not only improve the performance of nickel-based superalloys; it can also produce alloys for single crystal blades. The effects of these two aspects can make the turbine (especially the high-pressure turbine) work at a higher temperature. In this way, the designer can increase the turbine pressure, thereby improving operating efficiency; or the engine can accelerate the fuel combustion speed, thereby generating greater thrust. In addition, people can maintain the operating temperature at a low level and enlarge the difference between the actual operating temperature and the maximum allowable temperature of the turbine, so that the service life can be prolonged. People can also take both considerations into consideration while improving the performance and durability of the engine.

Alloys or coating materials composed of rhenium and tungsten, molybdenum or platinum group metals are widely used in the electronics and aerospace industries because of their high melting point, high electrical resistance, strong magnetism, and good stability. Such as the manufacture of special incandescent light bulbs, the shells of artificial satellites and rockets, the protective plates of atomic reactors, the use of ultra-high temperature heaters to evaporate metal, the use of high-temperature coatings on rockets and missiles, the instruments for spacecraft and High-temperature components such as heat shields, arc discharges, electrical contactors, etc. all utilize the above-mentioned characteristics of rhenium.

Rhenium and its compounds have excellent catalytic activity (rhenium has a highly selective catalytic function for many chemical reactions), so it is often used as a catalyst in petrochemical and other fields.
Catalytic reforming is one of the petroleum refining processes and an important means to improve gasoline quality and produce petrochemical raw materials. As a catalyst in the catalytic reforming process, rhenium platinum alloy can increase the depth of the reforming reaction and increase the yield of gasoline, aromatics and hydrogen. In addition, rhenium can also be used as a catalyst for car exhaust purification, while rhenium sulfide can be used as a hydrogenation catalyst for cresols and lignins.