Platinum is unaffected by air and water, but will dissolve in hot aqua regia, in hot concentrated phosphoric and sulphuric acids, and in molten alkali. It is as resistant as gold to corrosion and tarnishing.
Believe it or not, the chemicals present in everyday products like cleaning supplies, perfumes, hairsprays, etc. can be quite harsh. They can weaken the structure of your precious metal over a period of time. Also, the chlorine present in swimming pools can ruin the platinum's shine and cause discoloration.
The sulfuric acid by itself cannot dissolve platinum, but partially dissolves palladium and hardly dissolves rhodium only at highly concentrated boiling acid.
However, these processes have significant technological difficulties, since platinum does not readily dissolve in acids and dissolves slowly in hot sulfuric acid and aqua regia. At the same time, it essentially does not interact with other mineral and organic acids.
Platinum is chemically inert and will not oxidize in air at any temperature. It is resistant to acids and is not attacked by any single mineral acid but dissolves readily in aqua regia.
The result showed that hydrofluoric acid + hydrogen peroxide binary mixture dissolved 99.9% of alumina and 5-10% of platinum, while most platinum remained as solid residues and was finally recovered by aqua regia leaching (Pinheiro et al., 2004).
Don't handle bleach or harsh chemicals when wearing platinum jewelry. Although they won't hurt the Platinum, chemicals may discolor diamonds or gemstones. All precious metals can scratch and Platinum is no exception however, a scratch on Platinum is simply a displacement of the metal and none of the volume is lost.
Platinum's reaction with the H₂O₂ is pretty simple: it causes rapid decomposition into H₂O and O₂. This causes a rapid formation of bubbles on the surface of the metal, which is stronger with a higher concentration H₂O₂ solution.
Metals on reaction with acids liberate hydrogen gas. Gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) are noble metals. These metals are unreactive in nature and doesn't react with hydrochloric acid at all.
Some metals have the ability to withstand environments such as salt-damaged areas and acid rain. For example, taking seawater as an example, platinum and gold are completely unaffected. The same goes for titanium. However, stainless steel will rust depending on the grade of steel.
Cyanide has been used to dissolve platinum group metals from ores at temperatures up to 120° C.
for the reaction of platinum metal with nitric acid
Hence, platinum is not dissolved in nitric acid.
Platinum is unaffected by air and water, but will dissolve in hot aqua regia, in hot concentrated phosphoric and sulphuric acids, and in molten alkali. It is as resistant as gold to corrosion and tarnishing.
It's not just chlorine that can damage your gold jewellery and diamonds; saltwater can damage them too. Salt causes erosion of soldered gold, silver or platinum elements. As a result, the precious metal may weaken meaning your jewellery could potentially break.
Platinum and diamonds are both naturally tough metals and aren't chemically reactive to alcohol, however, your ring could lose brilliancy by constantly exposing it to hand sanitizing ingredients.
Don't Wear It While Cleaning
However, household cleaners such as bleach and common chemicals, such as acetone nail polish remover and chlorine from pools, can also erode alloys in precious metals.
You can also buy a jewellery cleaning solution from your local jeweller. Do not use toothpaste, baking soda or any other such products to clean your jewellery.
A thin film of feebly -stable solid platinum oxide is believed to form on platinum surfaces in air or oxygen at room temperatures and to thicken as the temperature is raised to about 500°C, when it decomposes.
Platinum does not fade, tarnish, or turn color.
Caring for platinum can keep your ring looking bright and beautiful for years to come. Daily doses of soap and water, hand creams and just being out in the elements leave their mark on your jewelry over time, especially if you wear your platinum every day.
Pour half a cup of white vinegar to into the pan. The vinegar will activate the base solution and cause the it to begin bubbling. Leave the platinum in the bubbling solution for five to ten minutes. Rinse and dry your platinum.
Which reagent is able to dissolve gold and platinum? Q. Gold and Platinum dissolve in aquaregia.
None of the common acids will attack Pt. However, cold aqua regia (3 part HCl + 1 part HNO3) will attack Pt, but only very slowly. Aqua regia will attack most other metals and alloys almost instantaneously. A reputable jeweller should be able to test for platinum using acid.
Platinum is a very rare and expensive metal. Therefore, all platinum jewelry will be marked to show authenticity. Look for the words “Platinum," “PLAT," or “PT” followed or preceded by the numbers “950” or “999." These numbers refer to the purity of the platinum, with “999” as the most pure.