{"id":3559,"date":"2015-01-27T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/?p=3559"},"modified":"2026-01-27T20:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:57:01","slug":"platinum-group-metals-at-work-industrial-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/metals\/platinum-group-metals-at-work-industrial-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"Platinum Group Metals at Work: Industrial Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: \u00a0This is Part 3 of a 6-Part Series on PGMs that runs on Tuesdays.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fertilizer\"

Platinum-rhodium catalysts are used in the manufacture of nitric acid, a key ingredient in fertilizer.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) have several unique and valuable properties that make them indispensable for many industrial applications. The PGMs<\/a> are extremely rare and are considered strategic metals<\/a> or critical metals because they are necessary for many industrial and technological processes but are in short supply and have no adequate alternatives.<\/p>\n

An estimated one-fifth to one fourth of everything we use either contains or is manufactured with platinum, the most valuable of the PGMs. Here\u2019s a summary of just a few of the myriad industrial applications of PGMs; to learn more, visit the International Platinum Group Metals Association<\/a> web site.<\/p>\n

Chemical processing<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to their high temperature stability, melting points and corrosion resistance, platinum, rhodium, iridium and their alloys are used to make industrial crucibles, which are used in virtually every industrial process. High purity conditions are required for these processes and the PGMs, with their high temperature stability, do not contaminate the products being fabricated. Iridium is the preferred material for crucibles used in the production of high purity single crystals of various metal oxides, which have applications in laser technology as well as medical, petroleum, and security industries.<\/p>\n

Nitric acid<\/span><\/p>\n

Platinum-rhodium catalysts are used in the manufacture of nitric acid, a key ingredient in fertilizer. Non-fertilizer applications include the production of explosive-grade ammonium nitrate, adipic acid for making nylon, and toluene diisocyanate for manufacturing polyurethane.<\/p>\n

Iridium-ruthenium catalysts are part of the process that makes acetic acid, which has a very wide range of applications including cleaning, photography, fumigation, packaging, paints, adhesives and artificial fibers.<\/p>\n

Platinum is also used in the production of paraxylene (PX), and a palladium catalyst is used in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). Both PX and PTA are used to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) an ingredient in plastics and polyester textiles.<\/p>\n

Other applications<\/span><\/p>\n