Platinum
Platino (Pt, Z=78)
- Date
- 1748 · confidence medium
- Place
- Madrid, Spain (described from samples from Chocó, New Granada)
- Credited to
- Antonio de Ulloa (and Charles Wood, William Brownrigg, Henrik Scheffer)
- People
- 👤 Antonio de Ulloa1716–1795
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Ulloa described in 1748 the 'platina' from Chocó observed during the 1735 geodesic expedition; Scheffer recognised it as a new noble metal in 1751. Pre-Columbian peoples had already worked it.
Wood brought samples to England in 1741; Brownrigg described them in 1750.
What it led to
- Catalysts (converters, nitric acid, oil refining)
- Mass and length standards
- Platinum drugs (cisplatin) and jewellery
Built on
- Platinum-gold sinteringc. 100 BCE - 300 CE
- Pre-Columbian metallurgy of Esmeraldas
- French geodesic expedition
Made possible
- Cisplatin
- Three-way catalytic converter