Platinum Metals Review - Volume 55, Issue 2, 2011

Metallographic analysis can be used to determine the microstructure of platinum alloys in order to set up working cycles and to perform failure analyses. A range of platinum alloys used in jewellery and industrial applications was studied, including several commonly used jewellery alloys. Electrochemical etching was used to prepare samples for analysis using optical metallography and additional data could be obtained by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The crystallisation behaviour of as-cast alloy samples and the changes in microstructure after work hardening and annealing are described for the selected alloys.

The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Professor Richard F. Heck (University of Delaware, USA), Professor Ei-ichi Negishi (Purdue University, USA) and Professor Akira Suzuki (Hokkaido University, Japan) for their work on palladium-catalysed cross-coupling in organic synthesis. This article presents a brief history of the development of the protocols for palladium-catalysed coupling in the context of Heck, Negishi and Suzuki coupling. Further developments in the area of palladium-catalysed cross-coupling are also briefly discussed, and the importance of these reactions for real world applications is highlighted.

The world’s growing population demands increasing access to advanced healthcare treatments. Platinum is used to make essential components for a range of medical devices, including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, catheters, stents and neuromodulation devices. The properties of platinum which make it suitable for medical device applications include its bio-compatibility, inertness within the body, durability, electrical conductivity and radiopacity. Components can be manufactured in a variety of forms, from rod, wire and ribbon to sheet and foil, plus high-precision micromachined parts. As well as biomedical device components, platinum also finds use in anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and carboplatin.

This is the fifth in a series of reviews on the circumstances surrounding the discoveries of the isotopes of the six platinum group elements. The first review on platinum isotopes was published in this Journal in October 2000 (1), the second on iridium isotopes in October 2003 (2), the third on osmium isotopes in October 2004 (3) and the fourth on palladium isotopes in April 2006 (4).