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• Jewellery

Throughout the world, platinum jewellery is made in a purity of at least 85% platinum, and in Europe and the USA, 95% is the norm.  Other platinum group metals - palladium, ruthenium and iridium - and copper and cobalt are commonly alloyed with platinum to optimise its working characteristics and wear properties.  

One of the main advantages of platinum for jewellery fabrication is its strength and resistance to tarnish. It can be repeatedly heated and cooled without hardening and oxidation effects, while even the most slender sections of platinum permanently retain their shape, providing a secure setting for diamonds and giving jewellery designers a freedom of invention not always possible with other materials.

• Medicine

Platinum has the ability, in certain chemical forms, to inhibit the division of living cells. The discovery of this property in 1962 led to the development of platinum-based drugs to treat a wide range of cancers.  Cis-platin, [PtCl₂(NH₃)₂], the first platinum anti-cancer drug, was first used in 1977 for the treatment of certain types of cancer such as leukaemia or testicular cancer.

Platinum can be fabricated into very tiny, complex components. As it is inert, platinum does not corrode inside the body, while allergic reactions to platinum are extremely rare. Platinum also has good electrical conductivity, which makes it an ideal electrode material.  Platinum electrodes are used in pacemakers which treat irregular heart disorders.

Catheters are flexible tubes which can be introduced into arteries and they contain platinum marker bands and guide wires, which are used to help the surgeon guide the device to the treatment site. The radio-opacity of platinum, which makes it visible in x-ray images, enables doctors to monitor the position of the catheter during treatment.

Platinum medical wires

• Autocatalysts

Autocatalysts are used to remove major exhaust pollutants from the exhaust lines of many vehicles.

 

An autocatalyst

An autocatalyst consists of a cylinder of circular or elliptical cross section made from ceramic or metal formed into a fine honeycomb and coated with a solution of chemicals and platinum group metals and mounted inside a stainless steel canister.

• Nitric Acid Manufacture

The principal use of nitric acid is the for the production of nitrogen fertilizers.

The first step in the production of nitric acid is the oxidation of ammonia gas with air to form nitric oxide using a platinum-rhodium catalyst.

• Silicones

Platinum catalysts are employed in the manufacture of silicones. Addition of a platinum compound to the silicone mixture catalyses the cross-linking process which results in the formation of a silicone product with the desired properties.

Silicones are durable materials with excellent chemical and fire resistance. They are also pliable, waterproof and electrically insulating. Consequently, silicone materials have a large number of uses in everyday life.

• Dentistry

Platinum, and to a much greater extent palladium, are mixed with gold or silver as well as copper and zinc to produce alloys for dental inlays, crowns and bridges.

• Hard discs

The hard discs in hard drives are usually coated with a cobalt based alloy, but platinum is added which enhances the magnetic qualities of the cobalt alloy, enabling data to be stored at higher densities and improving access times hence improving the data storage capacity of hard drives.

Platinum coated computer hard drive disks

• Glass

Platinum and platinum alloys are used in the manufacture of vessels that hold, channel and form molten glass, because platinum's high melting point, strength and resistance to corrosion allow it to withstand the abrasive action of molten glass.  Additionally, they do not react with glass nor do they oxidise at high temperatures.

Platinum is used in reinforced glass fibres, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), cathode ray tube displays (CRTs) used in TVs and visual display units in computers, optical and ophthalmic glass, container glass where more platinum is used for more corrosive glass, and ceramic glass used for example in electric cooker hobs.

Other platinum uses are listed below:

• Coating missile nose cones, jet engine fuel nozzles.

• Used as a catalyst in the contact process for the production of sulphuric acid, for cracking oil and as a catalyst in fuel cells.

• Platinum wires glow red hot when placed in the vapour of methanol, thereby acting as a catalyst to convert the alcohol into formaldehyde. This is used to produce cigarette lighters and hand warmers.

• Carbon monoxide detectors.

Carbon monoxide detectors

All images in this section are courtesy of www.platinum.matthey.com