Observations of Surface Changes in Platinum Crucibles

Iron which has been in solid solution in a platinum crucible will cause iron determinations in analyses to become high. Likewise the iron, oxidizing to ferric oxide during ignition, segregates along the boundaries between platinum crystals. It causes embrittlement and eventual crumbling of the crucible. During these studies it was observed that after heating in an electric muffle furnace the surface of a crucible was covered by tiny crystallographic faces. When, however, heating to the same temperature was carried out in a gas flame the facets almost smoothed out of existence.