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How Platinum is Used

How Platinum is Used

How Platinum is Used

Although platinum is not the most popular precious metal for investing purposes like gold and silver, it still has high demand influenced by its use in various industries such as the automotive and healthcare industry. As a precious metal, platinum has a multitude of properties that make it the perfect component in manufacturing and supporting different gadgets and technology. With a high melting point, conductivity, and low penchant for corrosion, it's one of the best metals to use to resist harsh environments. Discover in detail how platinum is important for many industries!

Automotive

Platinum is a key component in catalytic converters used to filter out harmful emissions from cars that burn gasoline. Vehicles that use gas for fuel, use combustion for energy and when gasoline burns, it produces chemical by-products when it comes into contact with the oxygen in the air. Some of the byproducts created by the combustion reaction are safe to breathe but there is a mixture of chemicals in the byproducts that could cause severe health problems. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a toxic by-product created when nitrogen gas reacts with oxygen during combustion and it’s poisonous. It can cause breathing issues, is carcinogenic, and causes heart problems. Alongside harming your health, emission by-products can also pollute the air and water. With the many known issues with emissions, French mechanical engineer Eugene Houdry, known for developing better fuel for cars, designed the catalytic converter to clean exhaust. He invented the catalytic converter in 1950 and in 1975, the US Environmental Protection Agency made catalytic converters mandatory on all new cars. Platinum acts as a catalyst in oxidation and reduction reactions in catalytic converters to separate nitrogen oxide (NOx) into nitrogen and oxygen, which are both gases that are safe to breathe. Since the air around us is composed of mainly nitrogen and oxygen, the reduction reaction also reduces the harmful effects on the environment. 

Jewellery

Despite the fact that platinum is not popular with investors, it is rarer than gold in the Earth’s crust, making it the perfect component for jewellery. Platinum is so rare, that if you were to collect all the platinum ever mined, there would be only enough metal to fill a living room. Other properties such as its durability, resistance to tarnishing and discoloration and the fact that it's chemically inert make platinum the perfect metal for jewellery. Platinum is denser than gold, which makes more durable jewellery and it’s also hypoallergenic, making it perfect for people with sensitive skin. When platinum is used in jewellery, it’s usually mixed with other metals in the platinum group metals such as ruthenium or iridium since it’s too soft to be used as jewellery in its pure form. For a piece of jewellery to be labelled as platinum, it must be at least 90% platinum. If the metal alloy contains less than 90% platinum, it would instead be considered a platinum alloy instead of platinum. To check if your rings are pure platinum, PLAT will be stamped on the back or engraved on the inside. Most platinum jewellery usually contains 90% or 95% platinum, and this fact usually makes platinum jewellery more expensive than gold. Gold jewellery is sold in varying purities and 10k gold is the minimum legally accepted standard for gold jewellery. 10k gold contains 41.7% gold, which is a lot less metal than platinum jewellery. 

Fuel Cells

Platinum is a catalyst metal. Like in catalytic converters, fuel cells, used to provide power, rely on metals as catalysts to help chemical reactions take place. Platinum and platinum group metals are some of the most common metals used as catalysts since it is functional at various temperatures. Platinum absorbs reactants strongly enough to create a reaction but it doesn’t absorb reactants too strongly and completely prevents any reactions from happening either. It archives a perfect balance to be a catalyst. Platinum is also a stable metal, since it is inert and durable, this precious metal can withstand the internal environment of a fuel cell without undergoing unwanted chemical reactions. Although platinum is perfect to use in fuel cells, it’s expensive, meaning that the cost would be passed onto consumers buying the product, which is its one downside.  

Electronics

Platinum has a high melting point, even higher than gold and silver and similar conductivities, making it ideal for electrical connectors. Most hard drives in computers contain platinum since it enhances the magnetic properties of cobalt alloy, giving the hard drive a higher capacity to store data. Platinum is used to coat electrodes to help control the flow of electricity and the platinum group metals are also used in your computer and glass of your computer screen! Platinum is used to make fibreglass, LCD glass, and flat panel displays. Glass is manufactured by melting minerals at temperatures over 1700 degrees Celsius. To shape, melt, and form glass, manufacturers use platinum because platinum can withstand high temperatures and doesn’t react with and interfere with the quality of the glass.

Medicine

Platinum is widely used in the healthcare industry. Platinum is perfect for the healthcare industry because it’s a biocompatible metal. Platinum like other precious metals is mostly chemically inert and it has no adverse effects when it is exposed to different parts of the human body. The precious metal also doesn’t tarnish and resists chemical processes in the body making it perfect for medical use. Platinum has wide uses in catheters, cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, and cancer treatments. Catheters are tubes used to be inserted into a patient’s body for medical purposes, and they can be used to administer medicine or remove fluid from a patient. Platinum is used in guidewires to guide surgeons and find the correct place to insert a catheter. Pacemakers and defibrillators have parts made out of platinum because it’s a metal that conducts electricity well and is biocompatible reducing the risk of a patient's body rejecting the device when it’s inserted in the heart. For cancer treatments, instead of being a tool to treat cancer, platinum is present in cancer medication. The division of the spread of cancer cells can be effectively reduced by pure platinum. The increase in cure rates for testicular cancer can be credited to the addition of platinum to cancer medications.

 

In conclusion, platinum is a versatile metal that has many important uses. Despite its unpopularity with investors, platinum’s value is largely tied to the industries that rely on platinum to shine. Because it has so many industrial uses, platinum as a metal will never be invaluable and will retain its value over the years similar to both gold and silver!

 

Although platinum is not the most popular precious metal for investing purposes like gold and silver, it still has high demand influenced by its use in various industries such as the automotive and healthcare industry. As a precious metal, platinum has a multitude of properties that make it the perfect component in manufacturing and supporting different gadgets and technology. With a high melting point, conductivity, and low penchant for corrosion, it's one of the best metals to use to resist harsh environments. Discover in detail how platinum is important for many industries!

Automotive

Platinum is a key component in catalytic converters used to filter out harmful emissions from cars that burn gasoline. Vehicles that use gas for fuel, use combustion for energy and when gasoline burns, it produces chemical by-products when it comes into contact with the oxygen in the air. Some of the byproducts created by the combustion reaction are safe to breathe but there is a mixture of chemicals in the byproducts that could cause severe health problems. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a toxic by-product created when nitrogen gas reacts with oxygen during combustion and it’s poisonous. It can cause breathing issues, is carcinogenic, and causes heart problems. Alongside harming your health, emission by-products can also pollute the air and water. With the many known issues with emissions, French mechanical engineer Eugene Houdry, known for developing better fuel for cars, designed the catalytic converter to clean exhaust. He invented the catalytic converter in 1950 and in 1975, the US Environmental Protection Agency made catalytic converters mandatory on all new cars. Platinum acts as a catalyst in oxidation and reduction reactions in catalytic converters to separate nitrogen oxide (NOx) into nitrogen and oxygen, which are both gases that are safe to breathe. Since the air around us is composed of mainly nitrogen and oxygen, the reduction reaction also reduces the harmful effects on the environment. 

Jewellery

Despite the fact that platinum is not popular with investors, it is rarer than gold in the Earth’s crust, making it the perfect component for jewellery. Platinum is so rare, that if you were to collect all the platinum ever mined, there would be only enough metal to fill a living room. Other properties such as its durability, resistance to tarnishing and discoloration and the fact that it's chemically inert make platinum the perfect metal for jewellery. Platinum is denser than gold, which makes more durable jewellery and it’s also hypoallergenic, making it perfect for people with sensitive skin. When platinum is used in jewellery, it’s usually mixed with other metals in the platinum group metals such as ruthenium or iridium since it’s too soft to be used as jewellery in its pure form. For a piece of jewellery to be labelled as platinum, it must be at least 90% platinum. If the metal alloy contains less than 90% platinum, it would instead be considered a platinum alloy instead of platinum. To check if your rings are pure platinum, PLAT will be stamped on the back or engraved on the inside. Most platinum jewellery usually contains 90% or 95% platinum, and this fact usually makes platinum jewellery more expensive than gold. Gold jewellery is sold in varying purities and 10k gold is the minimum legally accepted standard for gold jewellery. 10k gold contains 41.7% gold, which is a lot less metal than platinum jewellery. 

Fuel Cells

Platinum is a catalyst metal. Like in catalytic converters, fuel cells, used to provide power, rely on metals as catalysts to help chemical reactions take place. Platinum and platinum group metals are some of the most common metals used as catalysts since it is functional at various temperatures. Platinum absorbs reactants strongly enough to create a reaction but it doesn’t absorb reactants too strongly and completely prevents any reactions from happening either. It archives a perfect balance to be a catalyst. Platinum is also a stable metal, since it is inert and durable, this precious metal can withstand the internal environment of a fuel cell without undergoing unwanted chemical reactions. Although platinum is perfect to use in fuel cells, it’s expensive, meaning that the cost would be passed onto consumers buying the product, which is its one downside.  

Electronics

Platinum has a high melting point, even higher than gold and silver and similar conductivities, making it ideal for electrical connectors. Most hard drives in computers contain platinum since it enhances the magnetic properties of cobalt alloy, giving the hard drive a higher capacity to store data. Platinum is used to coat electrodes to help control the flow of electricity and the platinum group metals are also used in your computer and glass of your computer screen! Platinum is used to make fibreglass, LCD glass, and flat panel displays. Glass is manufactured by melting minerals at temperatures over 1700 degrees Celsius. To shape, melt, and form glass, manufacturers use platinum because platinum can withstand high temperatures and doesn’t react with and interfere with the quality of the glass.

Medicine

Platinum is widely used in the healthcare industry. Platinum is perfect for the healthcare industry because it’s a biocompatible metal. Platinum like other precious metals is mostly chemically inert and it has no adverse effects when it is exposed to different parts of the human body. The precious metal also doesn’t tarnish and resists chemical processes in the body making it perfect for medical use. Platinum has wide uses in catheters, cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, and cancer treatments. Catheters are tubes used to be inserted into a patient’s body for medical purposes, and they can be used to administer medicine or remove fluid from a patient. Platinum is used in guidewires to guide surgeons and find the correct place to insert a catheter. Pacemakers and defibrillators have parts made out of platinum because it’s a metal that conducts electricity well and is biocompatible reducing the risk of a patient's body rejecting the device when it’s inserted in the heart. For cancer treatments, instead of being a tool to treat cancer, platinum is present in cancer medication. The division of the spread of cancer cells can be effectively reduced by pure platinum. The increase in cure rates for testicular cancer can be credited to the addition of platinum to cancer medications.

 

In conclusion, platinum is a versatile metal that has many important uses. Despite its unpopularity with investors, platinum’s value is largely tied to the industries that rely on platinum to shine. Because it has so many industrial uses, platinum as a metal will never be invaluable and will retain its value over the years similar to both gold and silver!

 

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