Electronics
The unique qualities of platinum group metals (PGMs) have made them crucial to the operation of many technological innovations which improve our lives.
Without PGMs, you probably wouldn't be able to read this web page or use nearly any electronic device. PGMs are also used in the production of glass fibre for fibre optic cables, which has helped advance telecommunications technology.
Ceramic Capacitors
Multi-layer ceramic capacitors store energy in electronic devices in the form of an electrostatic field. Typically, they consist of two coated conducting plates separated by an insulating material called the dielectric. They are used in broadcasting equipment, mobile telephones, computers, electronic lighting and high voltage circuits to name but a few applications.
Because of their conductivity, durability, high temperature stability and oxidation resistance, platinum and palladium are used to coat multi-layer ceramic capacitors.
For the same reasons, these metals are also used to coat electrodes, the tiny components in all electronic products which help establish electrical contact between non-metallic parts of a circuit and control the flow of electricity. Rhodium and iridium are also used for this.
Computer Hard Disks
Computers have impacted on nearly every aspect of our professional and personal lives in the last two decades.
The performance of computer hard disks is reliant upon a complex structure of layered materials, including platinum and ruthenium.
Worldwide production of hard disk drives in 2009 exceeded 880 million units, and is expected to breach the 1 billion mark by 2010. Advances in consumer electronics and the increased need for data storage have seen hard disk drives expand their number of applications outside computing, and find use in digital TV recorders and home data centres. The adoption of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology between 2007 and 2009 saw an increase in the ruthenium content, in order to increase the data storage capacity per unit area. This is in keeping with the predictions of Moore's Law, which portends the doubling of data storage density every 18 months.