5 ms·

Or even "trace platinum dissolved in liquid gallium". The solubility at "room temp" (40 ˚C is quite hot for a room) is only about ~50 ppm. It's kind of like cal

Or even "trace platinum dissolved in liquid gallium". The solubility at "room temp" (40 ˚C is quite hot for a room) is only about ~50 ppm. It's kind of like calling sea water "room-temperature liquid sodium chloride".

ianai 4y ago
Whinging about titles gets taken a little far here sometimes. From the article: “But without the platinum there, it doesn't happen. This is completely different from any other catalysis anyone has shown, that I'm aware of. And this is something that can only have been shown through the modeling." Likening this to sea water leaves a lot to be desired.
- benreesman 4y ago
  It’s human nature that condemns us to these nerd anatomy measuring exercises. I’ve personally long since accepted that. But in theory it could be a competition to build up, rather than tear down, things that most commenters don’t know jack shit about anyways. C’est la vie.
- sumy23 4y ago
  Yes, especially because the notable part is that the liquid mixture is acting as a catalyst in the same way that the solid platinum was. "It's kind of like calling sea water "room-temperature liquid sodium chloride"." It would be extremely impressive if you could make sodium chloride thousands of times more potent by dissolving it in water.
  - Ancapistani 4y ago
    Oh, no. “Precious metal homeopathy”
- gopalv 4y ago
  > This is completely different from any other catalysis anyone has shown, that I'm aware of The part right before that is much more interesting. I quote >> The platinum is actually a little bit below the surface and it's activating the gallium atoms around it. So the magic is happening on the gallium under the influence of platinum. So the gallium is doing the catalysis, but only when a platinum atom is somewhere around the gallium - spooky action at a distance stuff. With Gallium doing the work, that explains "why we need so little platinum" detail. Actual paper here - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-00965-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-00965-6 The specific catalysis they're doing is "electrochemical methanol oxidation", so I assume this is a direct Methanol fuel cell catalyst.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    Hopefully, someone is trying this in a LENR cell.
- inimino 4y ago
  It's not just the title: > When combined with gallium, the platinum becomes soluble. In other words, it melts, That's not what that word means, and the audience for this article probably knows the difference between "melt" and "dissolve". They could just describe the research as it actually is instead of trying to make it sound like something more amazing to get clicks.
  - CPLX 4y ago
    > the audience for this article probably knows the difference between "melt" and "dissolve” Not if they watched The Wizard of Oz as children.
wolfi1 4y ago
40°C in that regard is room temperature

ianai 4y ago

Whinging about titles gets taken a little far here sometimes. From the article: “But without the platinum there, it doesn't happen. This is completely different from any other catalysis anyone has shown, that I'm aware of. And this is something that can only have been shown through the modeling." Likening this to sea water leaves a lot to be desired.

benreesman 4y ago
It’s human nature that condemns us to these nerd anatomy measuring exercises. I’ve personally long since accepted that. But in theory it could be a competition to build up, rather than tear down, things that most commenters don’t know jack shit about anyways. C’est la vie.
sumy23 4y ago
Yes, especially because the notable part is that the liquid mixture is acting as a catalyst in the same way that the solid platinum was. "It's kind of like calling sea water "room-temperature liquid sodium chloride"." It would be extremely impressive if you could make sodium chloride thousands of times more potent by dissolving it in water.
- Ancapistani 4y ago
  Oh, no. “Precious metal homeopathy”
gopalv 4y ago
> This is completely different from any other catalysis anyone has shown, that I'm aware of The part right before that is much more interesting. I quote >> The platinum is actually a little bit below the surface and it's activating the gallium atoms around it. So the magic is happening on the gallium under the influence of platinum. So the gallium is doing the catalysis, but only when a platinum atom is somewhere around the gallium - spooky action at a distance stuff. With Gallium doing the work, that explains "why we need so little platinum" detail. Actual paper here - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-00965-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-00965-6 The specific catalysis they're doing is "electrochemical methanol oxidation", so I assume this is a direct Methanol fuel cell catalyst.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  Hopefully, someone is trying this in a LENR cell.
inimino 4y ago
It's not just the title: > When combined with gallium, the platinum becomes soluble. In other words, it melts, That's not what that word means, and the audience for this article probably knows the difference between "melt" and "dissolve". They could just describe the research as it actually is instead of trying to make it sound like something more amazing to get clicks.
- CPLX 4y ago
  > the audience for this article probably knows the difference between "melt" and "dissolve” Not if they watched The Wizard of Oz as children.

wolfi1 4y ago

40°C in that regard is room temperature