Scientists find scalable solution for industrial use of platinum
30 Aug 2022
An industrial catalyst that uses liquid instead of solid state platinum could offer a cheaper and more sustainable use of the metal for industrial purposes, say scientists.
Writing in their paper published in Nature Chemistry, a research team drawn from Australia's New South Wales Sydney and RMIT Melbourne universities said trace amounts of platinum in liquid form combined with liquid gallium removed the need for the much higher temperatures normally required in the chemical engineering process.
In its solid state, platinum must comprise a tenth of the catalytic system required to create chemical reactions for industrial use. And given its very high melting point, the metal is too expensive in many otherwise suitable applications.
But the researchers paired it in liquid form with gallium in a minute quantity it became soluable.
High temperatures are required only during the process of dissolving platinum into gallium. Gallium itself has a melting point below 30C, less than 2% of that for solid state platinum.
The Australian scientists say that the much smaller amounts of platinum used could ensure reserves for longer while the lower temperatures required would contribute to more sustainable and cheaper industrial processes.
Pic by Irina Iacob @Unsplash
