Iridium and Platinum - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of iridium and platinum, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Iridium vs Platinum.

iridium and platinum - comparison

Compare iridium with another element

Compare platinum with another element

Iridium and Platinum – About Elements

Iridium

Iridium is a very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, iridium is generally credited with being the second densest element (after osmium). It is also the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C.

Platinum

Platinum is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Platinum is one of the least reactive metals. It has remarkable resistance to corrosion, even at high temperatures, and is therefore considered a noble metal. Platinum is used in catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts and electrodes, platinum resistance thermometers, dentistry equipment, and jewelry.

Iridium in Periodic Table

Platinum in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Iridium and Platinum – Applications

Iridium

Iridium is mainly consumed by the automotive, electronic, and chemical industries. Iridium metal is employed when high corrosion resistance at high temperatures is needed, as in high-performance spark plugs, crucibles for recrystallization of semiconductors at high temperatures, and electrodes for the production of chlorine in the chloralkali process. The demand for iridium surged from 2.5 tonnes in 2009 to 10.4 tonnes in 2010, mostly because of electronics-related applications that saw a rise from 0.2 to 6 tonnes – iridium crucibles are commonly used for growing large high-quality single crystals, demand for which has increased sharply.

Platinum

Platinum is primarily an industrial metal. It is a critical material for many industries and is considered a strategic metal. Platinum is used as a catalyst, platinum is mostly found in vehicle catalytic converters that reduce toxic exhaust chemicals, and also in fuel cells to increase efficiency. The most common use of platinum is as a catalyst in chemical reactions, often as platinum black. In catalytic converters, platinum allows the complete combustion of low concentrations of unburned hydrocarbons from the exhaust into carbon dioxide and water vapor. Platinum has been used in thermocouple devices that measure temperature with high accuracy. Platinum is a component in magnetic coatings for high-density hard disk drives and some of the newer optical storage systems.

Iridium and Platinum – Comparison in Table

Element	Iridium	Platinum
Density	22.65 g/cm3	21.09 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	2000 MPa	150 MPa
Yield Strength	N/A	70 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	528 GPa	168 GPa
Mohs Scale	6.25	3.5
Brinell Hardness	1670 MPa	400 MPa
Vickers Hardness	1760 MPa	550 MPa
Melting Point	2410 °C	1772 °C
Boiling Point	4130 °C	3827 °C
Thermal Conductivity	150 W/mK	72 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	6.4 µm/mK	8.8 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.13 J/g K	0.13 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	26.1 kJ/mol	19.6 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	604 kJ/mol	510 kJ/mol