Most nickel is used in the manufacture of alloys. Stainless steels, corrosion-resistant alloys used in industry and in kitchen utensils, contain nickel, as does the alloy, Alnico, which exhibits unusually powerful magnetic properties (25 times greater than those of ordinary magnets). Nickel is also used in coinage. The British one pound coin, for example, contains copper, nickel and zinc. Like palladium and platinum, nickel is further employed as a catalyst.
This catalytic property is the most important characteristic of the two platinum metals. Like nickel, palladium is used as a catalyst in hydrogenation reactions, and platinum is most famously employed in the catalytic convertors fitted to cars in order to regulate exhaust emissions. Both platinum and nickel are used in apparatus that resists attack from corrosive chemicals. Crucibles are an example.
