Reason why Pt is a good catalyst

[Serenie]

In many chemical reaction, Pt is used as catalyst often. I'm wondering for what reason Pt is used in many process.

 

[Simon Bridge]

This was my proposed PhD topic :)
The short answer is this: nobody knows for sure, but there are lots of ideas.

When I was looking into it, it was linked to the overlap between outer d and s shells... this means it is easier for Pt to take an electron from another atom's valence shell, but, once taken, hard for it to hang on to it. Look at the radial wavefunctions for the outer shells ... stability of Pt- ion etc.

I was looking at Pt with H2 specifically, in connection with PEMs.

In petrochemical industry, the mechanism is that Pt steals the double-bond electrons, them being exposed more. Stuff like that.
This is also an area where there is a lot of pseudoscience so switch skeptical reading skills to critical.

 

[HAYAO]

In terms of adsorption and desorption Pt is definitely good for the job. As you can see from the word "adsorption" and "desoprtion", these are two opposite phenomenon. So a material that adsorbs well usually desorbs poor. Likewise, a material that desorbs well usually adsorbs poor. Pt is actually in the balanced middle where it adsorbs pretty good and desorbs pretty good.

This is especially important for reaction that involves surface hydrogen.