Elements and Periodic Table History. Probably the oldest worked specimen of platinum is that from an ancient Egyptian casket of the 7 th century BC, unearthed at Thebes and dedicated to Queen Shapenapit. Otherwise this metal was unknown in Europe and Asia for the next two millennia, although on the Pacific coast of South America, there were people able to work platinum, as shown by burial goods dating back years.
In an Italian scholar, Julius Scaliger, wrote of a metal from Spanish Central America that could not be made to melt and was no doubt platinum. Then, in , Antonio Ulloa encountered this curious metal, but as he returned to Europe his ship was captured by the Royal Navy and he ended up in London. There, members of the Royal Society were most interested to hear about the new metal, and by the s, platinum was being reported and discussed throughout Europe.
Atomic data. Glossary Common oxidation states The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom.
Oxidation states and isotopes. Glossary Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey. Relative supply risk An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk.
Recycling rate The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. Substitutability The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. Reserve distribution The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. Political stability of top producer A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Political stability of top reserve holder A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators.
Supply risk. Relative supply risk 7. Young's modulus A measure of the stiffness of a substance. Shear modulus A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material. Bulk modulus A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. Vapour pressure A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. Pressure and temperature data — advanced. Listen to Platinum Podcast Transcript :. You're listening to Chemistry in its element brought to you by Chemistry World , the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Hello - blonde hair, expensive jewellery, a new generation of catalysts and anti cancer drugs plus a mistake that cost the Spanish conquistadors very dear. Have you spotted the connection yet? If not, here's Katherine Haxton. Platinum as a metal speaks of prestige, value and power.
An album has gone platinum, platinum wedding anniversaries, and highly prized platinum jewellery such as rings and Rolex watches. Platinum is a very different substance to a chemist. Platinum metal is silvery white and does not oxidise, properties that make it highly appealing for jewellery. It is more precious than silver but with prices more volatile than gold. Platinum has broad chemical resistance although the metal may be dissolved in aqua regia, a highly acidic mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, forming chloroplatinic acid, and has an extremely high melting point in excess of two thousand degrees centigrade.
Spanish conquistadors in the 16 th century viewed platinum as a nuisance, a white metal obtained while panning for gold and difficult to separate from the gold. It was named Platina, a diminutive of Plata, the Spanish word for silver. Platina was believed to be unripe gold, and was flung back into the rivers in the hope that it would continue to mature into gold. There is anecdotal evidence of gold mines being abandoned due to platinum contamination.
Platinum's properties allowed it to defy identification and classification until the 18 th century. Its high melting point and broad chemical resistance meant that obtaining a pure sample of the metal was difficult.
Platinum's place as a precious metal was first established in the 18 th century by Henrik Sheffer, who succeeded in melting or fusing platinum by adding arsenic. Three chemists, Lavoisier, Seguin and Musnier began working together in the late 18 th century to improve the design of their furnaces to enable platinum to be melted without the need of fluxes such as arsenic.
The French Chemist Lavoisier wrote for help from Josiah Wedgewood, the founder of Wedgewood pottery, asking for a clay that could be used to manufacture vessels that could withstand the high temperatures needed to melt platinum.
Seguin later requested details of which fuel could burn sufficiently hot enough, and for further details on creating the hottest flame possible. Lavoisier succeeded in melting platinum using oxygen to enhance the heat of the furnace but it would still be many years before a process could be found to produce commercial quantities. Of course, that was prior to Lavoisier's beheading at the height of the French Revolution in Janety had managed to develop a means of producing workable platinum using arsenic, and a way to remove the arsenic afterwards with limited success.
It is ironic that the very properties that make platinum metal so desirable caused so many difficulties for its discoverers. King Louis XVI of France believed that platinum metal was only fit for Kings, due in part to the difficulties in working with pure samples.
In , a method for melting up to 15 kilograms of platinum using a furnace lined with lime and oxygen and coal gas as fuel was described by Deville and Debray. The 19th century also saw the development of the first fuel cell using platinum electrodes.
Fuel cells produce electricity through electrochemical reactions, often using platinum as non-reactive electrodes, and represent an important area of research into environmentally friendly technologies and cleaner, greener sources of energy today.
The very properties of platinum that had made it so hard to work with became valued and platinum was used for lab equipment, and other applications where its broad chemical resistance was required. Johnson Matthey perfected the techniques of separating and refining the platinum group metals and in Matthey produced a standard metre measure made of a platinum and iridium alloy. Platinum compounds have been well documented, perhaps none more so than cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II , cisplatin.
In the early s, Barnett Rosenberg was conducting experiments on bacteria, measuring the effects of electrical currents on cell growth. It was observed that the E. Further investigation revealed a number of platinum compounds were being formed due to reaction of the buffer and platinum electrode and subsequent characterization of these compounds isolated cisplatin. Cisplatin was found to inhibit cell division thus causing the elongation of the bacteria, and was tested in mice for anticancer properties.
This was at the height of a push for new cures for cancer, and screening programs for novel chemotherapy agents. Initial experiments failed due to too high a dose but finally evidence was obtained for cisplatin.
Cisplatin today is widely used to treat epithelial malignancies with outstanding results in the treatment of testicular cancers. Cisplatin is a remarkable tale of serendipity in science research and a wonderful example of how major breakthroughs cannot be commanded. At this stage, the mineral concentrate contains about 15 to 20 percent PGMs.
In the final stage, the mineral concentrate is treated with aqua regia to dissolve the platinum. The solution is filtered, purified, and burned to produce pure platinum metal. Molten matte containing palladium and platinum is emptied from the furnaces at the Stillwater mine in North America. Platinum deposits are located in only a few areas of the world. For every ten gold mines there is only a single platinum mine.
All the platinum ever mined would fill a room no more than 25 feet square. Today, world platinum production hovers at about seven million troy ounces per year.
Russia is the second largest producer of platinum. Blue Sapphire Engagement Rings. White Sapphire Engagement Rings. Pink Sapphire Engagement Rings. Purple Sapphire Engagement Rings.
Yellow Sapphire Engagement Rings. Green Sapphire Engagement Rings. Blue Green Sapphire Engagement Rings. Peach Sapphire Engagement Rings. Padparadscha Sapphire Engagement Rings. Montana Sapphire Engagement Rings. Other Colors of Sapphire Engagement Rings. View All Sapphire Rings. Blue Sapphire Rings. White Sapphire Rings. Pink Sapphire Rings. Purple Sapphire Rings.
Yellow Sapphire Rings. Green Sapphire Rings. Blue Green Sapphire Rings. Peach Sapphire Rings. Padparadscha Sapphire Rings. Montana Sapphire Rings. Nowadays, platinum is more likely to be mined as ore from deep underground. Workers blast rock into small pieces and transport it to the surface for further processing.
Platinum also may be found as a byproduct of processing other metals like nickel and copper. Most platinum is derived from a mineral called cooperite, also known as platinum sulfide. Platinum is even found in outer space. Hawley's research papers, published in ," Luker says. Although platinum's strength and beauty have made it a jewelry favorite since the ancient Egyptians and Mayans, jewelry-making is hardly its only useful application. About half of platinum's demand is actually for use in catalytic converters for transportation vehicles like buses, cars and trucks, in large part because it's adept at converting harmful engine emissions into less damaging waste.
Platinum is also used as a catalyst to make chemicals like silicone, nitric acid and benzene. In fact, the six platinum group metals iridium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium and osmium are all known for their impressive catalytic skills meaning these metals increase the rate of chemical reaction between substances without changing their physical properties.
In the healthcare field, platinum compounds are a component of some chemotherapy drugs, and are also used in pacemakers and even dental fillings. The electronics industry has various applications for platinum, too — for instance, computer hard disks.
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