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Platinum/Iridium Alloy Foil (Pt90/Ir10)
Available Configurations
Properties common to all products in this list
| Thickness | Sides | Special Variants |
|---|---|---|
| 0.01mm to 2mm | 10mm to 150mm | Light Tight |
Need custom configurations? Please contact our Technical Solutions team.
Key Features
Platinum/Iridium alloy foil combines the noble metal properties of platinum with the mechanical reinforcement of iridium, producing a material suited to the most demanding precision, biomedical, and high-temperature applications:
Superior Hardness & Wear Resistance
Iridium addition significantly increases hardness and wear resistance over pure platinum. The Pt70/Ir30 grade reaches 280–285 HV, making it suitable for high-cycle electrode applications, tribological studies, and precision contacts where dimensional stability under repeated mechanical stress is critical.
Exceptional Corrosion & Chemical Resistance
The alloy resists attack from strong acids, alkalis, and oxidising environments across a wide temperature range. Both platinum and iridium are noble metals, and their combination maintains chemical inertness in harsh electrochemical, biological, and industrial process environments.
High-Temperature Stability
Melting points range from 1,800 °C (Pt90/Ir10) to 2,153 °C (Pt70/Ir30), and mechanical integrity is retained at elevated temperatures. This makes the alloy suitable for high-temperature thermocouples, aerospace sensors, and furnace components where thermal cycling would degrade less refractory materials.
Biocompatibility
Platinum/iridium alloys are bioinert and non-toxic, making foil forms suitable for implantable electrode substrates, neurosurgical devices, and biomedical sensor components where long-term contact with biological tissue is required without adverse immune response.
Tuneable Mechanical Properties Across Grades
The three iridium contents — 10%, 20%, and 30% — offer a progressive trade-off between ductility and strength. The Pt90/Ir10 grade offers the greatest formability and widest size range; the Pt70/Ir30 grade delivers maximum hardness and tensile strength (980–1,100 MPa) at the cost of reduced workability.
Pinhole-Free Format (Light-tight Variants)
The light-tight foil variants are tested and certified to be entirely free of pinholes, ensuring complete blockage of light transmission. This makes them suitable for optical masking, photolithography shielding, photonic device isolation, and enclosures for light-sensitive experiments where any optical leakage would compromise results.
Industrial Applications
Platinum/iridium alloy foil is used across advanced scientific, medical, and industrial sectors for its unique combination of hardness, chemical inertness, and high-temperature stability:
- ✦ Biomedical & Neurosurgical Electrodes
- Used as substrate and contact material in implantable neural electrodes, deep brain stimulation devices, and cochlear implants, where biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and long-term dimensional stability under physiological conditions are essential.
- ✦ Aerospace & High-Temperature Sensors
- Employed in thermocouples, pressure sensors, and electrical contacts for jet engines and spacecraft, where the alloy's thermal stability, low creep, and resistance to oxidation at elevated temperatures are required over extended service lives.
- ✦ Precision Electrochemical Electrodes
- Applied as working and counter electrodes in voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and fuel cell catalyst evaluation, where the alloy's inertness and resistance to electrochemical degradation ensure consistent, long-term measurement accuracy.
- ✦ Optical Masking & Photonic Shielding (Light Tight variants)
- Used in photolithography masks, optical sensor housings, spectrometer shielding, and enclosures for light-sensitive experiments, where the pinhole-free structure ensures total light exclusion without compromising the alloy's mechanical or chemical performance.
- ✦ Microfabrication & Precision Components
- Machined, laser-cut, or formed into precision substrates, contact pads, and thin-film layers for MEMS devices, semiconductor processing equipment, and high-wear tribological components that demand both dimensional accuracy and long service life.
Synonyms
Material Properties
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Hardness - Brinell | 130-190 |
| Elongation at break( % ) | <25 |
| Tensile strength( MPa ) | 380-620 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Electrical resistivity( µOhmcm ) | 25 |
| Temperature coefficient( K⁻¹ ) | 0.0013 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Melting point( C ) | 1800 |
| Thermal conductivity( W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ ) | 31@23 |
| Thermal conductivity( W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ ) | 31@23C |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion( x10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ ) | 8.7@20-100°C |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Density( gcm⁻³ ) | 21.56 |
Tolerances
| Thickness | <0.01mm | ±25% |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | 0.01mm - 0.05mm | ±15% |
| Thickness | >0.05mm | ±10% |