The importance of platinum today and its potential for the future is quite astonishing given it was first considered a nuisance. What’s even more impressive is that the use of platinum to reduce emissions and in chemotherapeutics is only scratching the surface of a diverse history of the metal in many industries. The next time you use a platinum card or see platinum jewellery, remember there’s so much more to the metal than first meets the eye.
Paul O’Dowd is a PhD researcher with SSPC and the Department of Chemistry in the RCSI.