London, 13 April 2010

Johnson Matthey have used this issue as an opportunity to announce the launch of our "Virtual Issues", the flagship of the additional 'tailored' services they hope to offer readers. These issues will each cover a subject of current interest to pgm researchers, collecting all of the most relevant content on that subject from our archives and providing access to it in one convenient package.

Planned future topics for Virtual Issues include:

* South African PGM Science
* Russian PGM Science
* Glass Technology
* Fuel Cells
* Catalysis by Gold and the PGMs

The regular issue continues to offer a broad selection from the ongoing research and development centred around the pgms. Our lead article features a technique which blurs the distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, by immobilising organometallic catalysts to give inherently insoluble species that retain the catalytic properties of the original complexes. PGM-based catalyst science is not only rapidly evolving, it also has enormous scope -- and this issue draws from the full range: from the fundamentals of detailed catalyst characterisation at the atomic level, to the global impact of catalysis in emissions control and sustainability.

In other items, the challenge of assessing the crystallographic properties of iridium from absolute zero over 2700 degrees to its melting point is taken on, and the series of articles on 'The Platinum Development Initiative' is concluded, with Part IV discussing the hot corrosion behaviour of selected platinum alloys. The issue is rounded out by a number of reviews, including our first review of a DVD documentary, a 'Final Analysis' of techniques for melting the pgms for jewellery manufacture, and selected items from the patent and scientific literature.

Ends --

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