Johnson Matthey is keen to encourage research into future applications of platinum group metals (pgms). As a global leader in sustainable technologies, our focus is on clean air, clean energy, healthcare and the efficient use of the planet’s natural resources – and on the fundamental properties of pgms on which these applications depend.

Johnson Matthey’s commitment to progress in platinum group metals technology is demonstrated by the launch of the new JM Platinum Group Metal Award Scheme in September 2021. This Scheme is a way for Johnson Matthey to give away pgm materials and salts to leading researchers engaged in inspiring science in sustainable technology areas. Each quarter, we will make a free gift of 5–10 g of a pgm material to the 10 to 15 applications to the Scheme that have the greatest potential to:

Regular readers of this journal may remember the original Johnson Matthey Metals Loans Scheme (1) which donated pgm salts to researchers for more than half a century (1955–2014). Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson used materials from the Johnson Matthey Loans Scheme for virtually all of his pgm research, which featured in around 200 of his 557 publications (2). The pgms from the Scheme contributed to the successful development of new, commercially successful technologies for catalysis, cancer treatment and pollution control among many others. Around 5000 journal publications feature pgm given by Johnson Matthey via the old Scheme.

Although the name has changed from Loan to Award Scheme, the best features of the scheme remain, including sending the end-of-life research samples back to one of Johnson Matthey’s UK centres to be collected for recycling. As the largest global refiner of secondary pgm materials, we have the processing capability in our Brimsdown and Royston facilities to upgrade the metal to 99.995% purity. Scheme metal will join the other pgms going round the endless recycling loop.