The contact process is the current method of producing sulphuric acid in the high concentrations needed for industrial processes. Platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

 was formerly employed as a catalyst for the reaction, but as it is susceptible to poisoning

Catalyst poisoning

Catalyst poisoning refers to the effect that a catalyst can be 'poisoned' if it reacts with another compound that bonds chemically to its active surface sites. This effectively reduces the usefulness of the catalyst...

 by arsenic impurities in the sulfur feedstock, vanadium(V) oxide

Vanadium(V) oxide

Vanadium oxide is the chemical compound with the formula V2O5. Commonly known as vanadium pentoxide, this brown/yellow solid is the most stable and common compound of vanadium. Upon heating it reversibly loses oxygen...

 (V₂O₅) is now preferred.

This process was patented in 1831 by the British vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

 merchant Peregrine Phillips.