According to the International Platinum Group Metals Association, in the electronics sector, most palladium is used for multi-layer ceramic (chip) capacitors (MLCC). Although individual electronic components contain only a minute amount of the metal, palladium is in great demand due to the sheer volume of products made with it. ![]() Palladium is also a major player in the electronics industry it is used in virtually every kind of electronic device, from basic consumer products to complex military hardware. More and more platinum is being used in the manufacture of hard disks to keep up with the increasing demand for more storage, such that the proportion of platinum in the magnetic alloy has gone from less than 10% in 2002 to 35% in 2007. Adding platinum to the cobalt magnetic alloy enhances the magnetic properties of the surface and therefore its storage capacity. The strength of the magnetic field generated by the surface layer determines how much data can be recorded on a given surface. Each hard drive contains one or more platters or disks where data is stored on the magnetic surfaces. If you’re grateful for the huge amount of data storage capacity you now have in your modern-day computer, you can thank platinum. ![]() Platinum and ruthenium are in your computer and in the glass of your computer screen. The versatile platinum group metals (PGMs)-platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium-can be found in products we use every day, such as catalytic converters, drugs and medical devices, and many, many electronic devices. Super-strong jewelry is also made of an iridium and platinum alloy.Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a 6-Part Series on PGMs that runs on Tuesdays. A compound of osmium and iridium, called osmiridium, is used in fountain pen tips and compass bearings. It is also used on some optical lenses to reduce glare. It is also used to make devices needed for high temperatures and in electrical contacts. Iridium's principal use is to harden platinum by making a platinum alloy. Though brittle, iridium can be worked if heated to a white heat of 2,200 to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius), according to Encyclopedia Britannica. "They speculated that it was caused by a meteor and linked this to the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years prior," explained Simson. In 1980 scientist Luis Alvarez and his son Water Alvarez found significant amounts of iridium in a certain part of the Earth's crust, spread out all over the Earth's surface. It is so dense that it mainly exists in the Earth's core, rather than crust," said Amanda Simson, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of New Haven.īut some iridium exists in the crust. "Iridium is one of the densest and rarest of Earth's natural elements. ![]() Pure iridium is so rare on the Earth's crust that there is only about 2 parts per billion located in the crust, according to Chemistry Explained. ![]() Ore containing iridium is found in Brazil, the United States, Myanmar, South Africa, Russia and Australia. Today, iridium is commercially recovered as a byproduct of copper or nickel mining. However, the international prototype kilogram, which defines a kilogram, also made of a platinum and platinum-iridium alloy, is still in use around the world. The meter was redefined in terms of the orange-red spectral line of krypton. This bar was replaced as the definition of a meter in 1960, though. Though the metal itself isn't rainbow colored, it is called this because of its multi-colored compounds.īecause iridium is very resistant to corrosion, the standard meter bar was made of 90 percent platinum and 10 percent iridium. The name iridium comes from the Latin word iris, which means rainbow. At the Royal Institution in London he announced his findings and named one element iridium and the other osmium. After this treatment, the residue separated into two new elements. Tennant discovered iridium by dissolving crude platinum in diluted aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids), then by treating the black residue left behind in turn with alkalis and acids, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
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