If you are thinking of investing in platinum this article summarises the most common uses of platinum in everyday life.
Platinum is one of the rarest precious metals on the planet and far rarer than gold and silver. While the metal is highly desirable for its aesthetic attributes, it has many industrial uses including automotive catalysts.
The dominating consumer use of platinum is of course jewellery. Platinum’s many qualities make it an ideal jewellery metal: it has high tensile strength, it is resistant to tarnishing, it is highly durable, and it provides a robust, reliable mount for diamonds. Jewellery is the second biggest application of platinum.
What are the more common uses of platinum?
While platinum is inert, it is also an excellent catalyst in oxidation reactions. Its catalytic properties have been known since the 1820s, and today its principal application is in catalytic converters. Here are some of the industrial uses of platinum:
1. Catalytic converters
This is the most significant industrial application of platinum, which is usually used with other precious metals such as palladium and rhodium.
Its role is to oxidise carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. It functions best in oxygen-rich conditions which makes it an excellent choice for diesel engines.
2. Petrol refining
Platinum can convert naphtha produced by oil refineries and which have low octane ratings into high octane reformates. The reformates are used as petrol blending stocks.
3. Chemical industry
Platinum is used in the manufacture of many products ranging from fertilisers to silicone.
4. Fuel cells
Fuel cells use platinum catalysis to combine hydrogen and oxygen into water and in the process generate an electric current. Although this technology has been under development for many years, large scale industrial use such as fuel cell powered cars remains elusive.
5. Electronics
Platinum is used in a wide range of thick film and thin film components including integrated circuits, optical media, sensors, conductors, resistors, and MLCCs (multi-layer ceramic capacitors).
6. Medical
Platinum compounds such as carbo-platin and cis-platin are powerful cytotoxins that are effective at treating a wide range of cancers.
Investing in platinum
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