Platinum: Indispensable for innovative glasses

Whether tablet display, camera lens, or vaccine ampoule: special glasses must meet complex requirements. Precious metals such as platinum ensure that innovative types of glass retain their characteristic properties during production.

High-quality glass is omnipresent in our everyday lives. TV screens must be color-neutral and thin, touch screens scratch-resistant and shatterproof. For optical glass, high transparency and homogeneity are crucial, and medical glass guarantees the safe use of medical agents. While components made of ceramic materials are sufficient for producing and processing utility glasses, the production of special glasses requires specific materials: precious metal alloys, for example, made of platinum and rhodium.

Platinum has long been indispensable in glass production. Heraeus has been providing platinum materials to the glass industry for decades. The specialists in the Global Business Unit Heraeus Precious Metals use the advantages of the precious metal. It has a very high melting point and is extremely durable and resistant.

Ceramic tools used in the production of bottle glass, for example, are attacked by molten glass. Parts can come loose, resulting in inclusions in the glass and impurities. The mechanical strength of the glass can also change. These effects are acceptable for utility glass, but not to produce special glass. This is because the glass would then be unusable for its actual purpose.

Platinum and platinum-rhodium alloys already have excellent properties for glass production. "But we are already one step further," emphasizes Dr. Matthias Wegner, Head of Innovation in the Functional Materials Division at Heraeus Precious Metals. "With so-called DPH alloys, we achieve significantly longer service life." DPH stands for "dispersion hardened". These alloys are stronger and more durable than non-dispersion hardened materials.

The latest innovation is a new generation of DPH materials with which Heraeus sets new standards. They retain their properties even at very high temperatures and are resistant to mechanical stress and wear. "Glass manufacturers benefit from these advantages," Wegner explains. "Longer maintenance cycles reduce plant downtime and repair costs. "A plus in terms of sustainability and capital commitment: Less precious metal is needed for producing DPH materials thanks to the material's excellent mechanical properties.