The History and Applications For Platinum

History

Genuinely in the works platinum and platinum rich alloys have been known about for centuries. Though the metal was used by pre-Columbian Native Americans (Aztec, Mayan, Inca, Moche, Chibcha, and Canaras), the first European allusion to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484-1558) as a description of a inexplicable metal found in Inner American mines between Darién (Panama) and Mexico ("up until now impossible to melt by any of the Spanish arts"). The word platinum comes from the Spanish word platina, meaning "small silver."

Platinum was discussed by astronomers Antonio de Ulloa and Don Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713-1773), both appointed by King Philip V to join a geographical expedition in Peru that lasted from 1735 to 1745. Amongst other things, Ulloa experimental the platina del pinto, the unworkable metal found with gold. British privateers intercepted Ulloa's ship on the return voyage. Though he was well treated in England, and even made a member of the Royal Society he was not permitted from publishing a allusion to the nameless metal until 1748. Before that could happen Charles Wood independently isolated the element in 1741. Major finds were exposed in Russia in 1819, which bent around 90% of the global Platinum manufacture at the turn of the 20th century.

Due to its rarity, greater conundrum to work with and the need to alloy it with (at the time) an even more pricey metal iridium, platinum was only used in a limited way in bracelets at the end of the 19th century. This changed at beginning of the 20th century when most diamond ring mountings and most special bracelets were nearly absolutely made of platinum. From 1875 to 1960 the SI ( from the French Le Système Global d'Unités) unit of length the metric standard metre was defined as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of ninety percent platinum and ten percent iridium, measured at 0° Celsius.

Platinum is a compound element with the atomic symbol (Pt) and an atomic number of 78. It is in group 10 of the Periodic Table of Elements. A heavy, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal, platinum is resistant to deterioration and occurs in some nickel and copper ores along with some native deposits. Platinum is used in bracelets, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts, dentistry, computer chip, and automobile emissions control diplomacy. Platinum bullion has the ISO currency code of XPT. As of June 24, 2008, Platinum was worth $2,032 per troy ounce approximately $65 per gram.

When pure, the metal appears greyish-white and firm. The metal is deterioration resistant. The catalytic properties of the six platinum family metals are outstanding. For this catalytic material goods, platinum is used in catalytic converters, incorporated in automobile exhaust systems, as well as tips of spark plugs. Platinum has a cubic Precious stone organize.

Platinum's wear and tarnish resistance characteristics are well suited for making fine bracelets. Platinum is more precious than gold. The price of platinum changes along with its availability, but its price is naturally more than twice the price of gold. In the 18th century, platinum's rarity made King Louis XV of France announce it the only metal fit for a king. Platinum possesses high resistance to compound attack, brilliant high temperature characteristics, and stable electrical properties. All these properties have been exploited for manufacturing applications. Platinum does not commonly tarnish in air at any temperature, but can be decomposing by cyanides, halogens, sulfur, and caustic alkalis. This metal is insoluble in hydrochloric and nitric acid, but does dissolve in the mixture known as aqua regia, forming chloroplatinic acid. When crude platinum is dissolved in aqua regia, gold is removed from the solution as a rushed by behavior with iron chloride. The platinum is precipitated out as impure on behavior with ammonium chloride, leaving H2PdCl4 in solution.

Common oxidation states of platinum contain +2, and +4. The +1 and +3 oxidation states are less common, and are often stabilized by metal bonding in bimetallic or polymetallic species.

Applications:

Platinum is an extremely rare metal, in the works as only 0.003 ppb in the Earth's crust, and is 30 times rarer than gold. If all the world's platinum capital were poured into one Olympic-size swimming pool, it would be just deep enough to cover one's ankles. Gold would fill more than three such pools.

In 2006, the world supply of Platinum was about 217,700 kg, or 7 million Troy ounces.

In 2007, global supplies of 6.5 million ounceswere more than matched by the demand of 7.03 Million ounces.

It is used in the subsequent industries as well as others:

* As a catalyst in the catalytic converter, an discretionary (though often mandatory by law) component of the gasoline fueled automobile exhaust system (see "Notable characteristics" in this article).

* As a catalyst in fuel cells. Reducing the amount of platinum required (and thus cost) is a major focus of fuel cell investigate.

* Certain platinum containing compounds are capable of crosslinking DNA and kill cells by similar pathways to alkylating chemotherapeutic agents. Cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are accredited examples of this class of drugs.

* Platinum resistance thermometers.

* Electrodes for use in electrolysis and electrochemical measurements (e.g., the standard hydrogen electrode).

* In the Clark polarographic electrode for measuring oxygen tension. A wide range of bracelets. * As a catalyst in the curing of silicone elastomers. * As a catalyst in glow plugs in some model engines.

* In crucibles, alloyed with rhodium (10-40% of Rh), for high temp melting around 1500° C of glass.

* In shooting, it is sometimes used for archival printmaking. Platinum prints show a greater range of tones than other Black and White printing methods. Additionally platinum's compound stability makes for extremely long-lasting prints. The conundrum with this method, in addition to the high cost, is that platinum is less light sensitive and prints must be contact in black and white at the same size as the negative. Therefore, enlargements can only be made by making an enlarged negative. Platinum salts alone commonly make excessive draw a honor in prints; combined with salts from its sister metal, palladium, produce warmer and softer tones, without diminishing the tonal range platinum enables.

* In watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breitling and other companies use platinum for producing their limited edition watch series. Watchmakers highly appreciate the unique properties of platinum as it neither tarnishes nor wears out.

Author: Jude Sutton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty