Full Text for January 2007, Volume 51, Number 1

 

This issue contains the following:

Platinum Metals Review Archive Goes Online
The 'Journal Archive' is now available at: http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/dynamic/volume/archive. It gives full access, free of charge, to articles on the platinum group metals (pgms) dating back to 1957.

 

New Composite Polymer Materials Incorporating Palladium
Kaushik Mallick, Michael Witcomb and Mike Scurrell (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) review work on composite materials containing palladium nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes, combined with polyaniline and its derivatives. Polyanilines can be designed with the required electrical conductivity for many applications, and palladium can further enhance the range of desirable physical properties which can be achieved. The authors discuss synthesis of the composite materials and their performance for a range of purposes, including catalysis and sensor applications.

 

PGMs in Homogeneous Hydrogenation
Ann K. Keep (Johnson Matthey Catalysts, Royston, U.K.) reviews the “Handbook of Homogeneous Hydrogenation”, edited by Johannes G. De Vries and Cornelis J. Elsevier. The book offers comprehensive coverage of both industrial processes and academic research. Precious metal catalysts including the pgms feature throughout the book; notably rhodium, iridium and ruthenium for enantioselective hydrogenations.

 

Technical Understanding of Palladium as a Jewellery Metal
The 20th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology took place from 10th to 13th September 2006, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. Christopher W. Corti (COReGOLD Technology Consultancy, Reading, U.K.) attended the event. Three presentations and many questions to speakers confirmed the wide technical interest in palladium for jewellery. Other talks covered platinum alloys, sources of information for jewellers and jewellery manufacturing techniques.

 

Comparison of Welding Techniques for Platinum Alloys
Duncan Miller, Katyusha Vuso, Penny Park-Ross and Candy Lang (Centre for Materials Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa) present a comparison of spot and laser welding to conventional welding techniques for three different platinum jewellery alloys. Laser and spot welding produced very narrow heat affected zones, with correspondingly narrow regions of decreased hardness, compared to conventional welding. It was difficult to achieve complete joining using laser and particularly spot welding. This knowledge can enable jewellers to take advantage of these novel joining methods through appropriate design.

 

Developments in Fuel Cell Technology
Donald S. Cameron (The Interact Consultancy, Reading, U.K.) presents a review of the Fuel Cells Science and Technology 2006 conference, held on the 13th and 14th September 2006 in Turin, Italy. Topics included fuel reforming to produce hydrogen from fossil and renewable fuels, developments in PEM fuel cell stack technology including reductions in platinum loadings, and durability of platinum and platinum alloy catalysts.

 

Alcohols as Fuels
Reviewed by Gary Acres (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading, U.K.), “Alcoholic Fuels” (edited by Shelley Minteer) is part of the Chemical Industry Series. It covers methods for producing alcohol-containing fuels, and their uses including combustion engines, fuel cells and portable energy applications. Catalysts, including those based on the pgms, play an important role. The book is a timely addition to the series as sustainable, CO₂-neutral energy sources continue to be of interest.

 

Coordination Chemistry of the PGMs
David J. Robinson and Malcolm Arendse (Anglo Research, Johannesburg, South Africa) attended the 37th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, which took place between the 13th and 18th August 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa. Topics included pgm complexes with anticancer activity. The pgms also featured in talks on materials, nanostructures and devices, as well as catalysis, photochemistry and computational chemistry.

 

Pivotal Role Played by PGMs in Heterogeneous Catalysis
Mark R. Feaviour and Emma R. Schofield (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading, U.K.) review the 9th International Symposium on the Scientific Bases for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts, which took place in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, from 10th to 14th September 2006. Platinum, palladium and ruthenium featured prominently in many of the presentations, in areas such as catalyst preparation and supported metal catalysts.

 

PGM Market Update
Information on pgms supply and demand is summarised from the “Platinum 2006 Interim Review”, published in November 2006 by Johnson Matthey.

 

Abstracts and New Patents
A selection of abstracts from the scientific and patent literature is presented.

 

Forms of Porous Platinum
This “Final Analysis” item by Allan Mills (University of Leicester, U.K.) describes the characteristics and preparation of the three generally recognised varieties of platinum in the porous state. These are ‘platinised platinum’, ‘platinum sponge’, and ‘platinum black’, and are porous at all levels of magnification.

Barry W. Copping
Editor

Contact
The Editor, Platinum Metals Review, Johnson Matthey PLC, Orchard Road, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 5HE, United Kingdom; Fax +44 (0) 1763 256359; Email jmpmr@matthey.com

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