a coefficient twice as great. The Seebeck coefficients for thermocouples having a Pt thermoelement are given in Fig. 2. In general, all the platinum metals form stable, very thin oxide films in air at room temperature and the thickness of each fill shows little change until about 400°C, above which it increases with temperature [15-17]. At a temperature above 400°C the oxide fill rapidly reaches a maximum thickness and, thereafter, its thickness and weight remain nearly constant [16]. However, each of the solid oxides will begin to dissociate at a specific temperature and at significantly higher temper- atures the oxide exists only as a gas. The dissoci- ation temperature is about 400°C for PtO2 [15], about 870°C for PdO [17] and above 1000°C for the oxides of Ir and Rh, depending on the partial pressure of 02, etc. According to Chaston [16] the solid oxides for Ir and Rh are IrO2 and RhO2, and the stable gas phase for iridium oxide is probably IrO3. On the other hand, Carol and Mann [18] claim the predominant oxide of Rh when solid is Rh20 a. If a metal coated in oxide is heated to a temper- ature above the dissociation temperature for the oxide the oxide dissociates. Some oxide reverts to the metal and the remainder to gaseous oxide. The level of gaseous oxide for a metal M is controlled by an equation of the form
2M(solid) + xO2(gas) ~2MOx(gas), ( 1 )
where the concentration of oxide vapour (or partial pressure) is proportional to the local concentration