Platinum group of metals (PGM) are very resistant to extreme heat. Why is platinum never mentioned in aerospace world? Is this a top secret?
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1Related: What material is used to make the hot sections of jet engines? Density (Pt = 21.45, Ni = 8.91) and cost limit the use of platinum (and more overall, so called platinum group metals, PGM), see this article. – mins Jun 11 '17 at 09:22
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Use of platinum & iridium in spark plugs is quite common, so it's not true that the use is never mentioned. E.g. http://www.championaerospace.com/products/spark-plugs – jamesqf Jun 11 '17 at 18:10
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To elaborate on mins comment: platinum right now is selling for around \$1000 / troy ounce, which is ~\$14,500 / pound. Nickel is selling for around \$4 / pound and cobalt is \$25/pound. Nickel and cobalt super alloys have sufficient temperature capability for jet engine applications. So the choice is clear. Platinum is not mentioned because it is not used.
Daniel K
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