The platinum group refer to the six metallic elements that are clustered together in the periodic table. They are usually abbreviated as the PGM and are also called as the platinoids, platinum group, platidises, or platinum metals. They are all transition metals that are placed in the d-block including 8, 9, and 10 groups along with 5 and 6 periods. The six platinum group metals include ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, palladium, osmium, and platinum. They consist of similar physical and chemical properties and show the tendency to occur together within the same mineral deposits.
The naturally occurring platinum and its alloys were known to pre-Columbian Americans for a long time, however the first European reference appears in 1557 in the work of the Italian writer Julius Caesar Scaliger. He wrote about the mysterious metal found in Central American mines. The Spaniards coined the name ‘’platina” when they first saw it in Colombia. They considered platinum as an unwanted impurity in the silver which they were mining. The platinum metals exhibits exceptional catalytic properties and they are extremely resistant to wear and tarnish. In fact, platinum is widely used for fine Jewellery.
Among other unique properties are the resistance to chemical attack, stable electrical properties and excellent high-temperature characteristics. All these properties are being used in wide range of industrial applications. The production of pure platinum group metals begins from the residues of the production of other metals with a mixture of many such metals. One of the starting products is the anode residue of gold or nickel production. They are separated by using the differences in chemical reactivity and solubility of various compounds of the metals. The various elements in this group get separated by dissolving all the metals in aqua regia and forming their respective nitrates. After that, various procedures are used for extracting each of them separately.
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