Palladium
Palladium:
Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. It belongs to the Platinum Group of Metals (PGM).
Benefits of Palladium:
It has the lowest melting point and density among the PGM
It has a high resistance to oxidation and corrosion
It does not tarnish in air
It has superior catalytic properties due to the fact that it has the astounding capability to absorb hydrogen gas at a rate of 900 times its own volume.
When it is annealed it becomes soft and ductile and when cold-worked it becomes stronger and harder
It is chemically stable and conductive and thus has several useful applications
Applications of Palladium:
Palladium has uses in electronics, dentistry, jewelry, coinage, fuel cells, oil refining, polyester, photography, chemical uses, water treatment and many more areas
Auto-catalysts are by-far the largest users of Palladium
Automobile Industry and Palladium:
Most automobiles use catalytic converters made from palladium. It is used as a catalyst for hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions and for petroleum cracking. Palladium provides cost advantages over platinum and it can handle higher temperatures, thus most automobile manufacturers use Palladium and there is great demand for it. Consumption will beat production by 511,000 ounces in 2013, or about what the car industry uses every seven weeks, Barclays Plc estimates. The number of automobiles is projected to double in the next 30 years, which means the demand for Palladium is going to increase significantly.
Sources of Palladium:
Palladium occurs in nature as a free metal and can also be alloyed with gold, platinum and other platinum group metals in placer deposits of the Ural Mountains, Australia, Ethiopia, North and South America. The most important commercial sources are nickel-copper deposits found in the Sudbury Basin, Ontario, and the Norilsk–Talnakh deposits in Siberia. Palladium is found in the rare minerals
Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. It belongs to the Platinum Group of Metals (PGM).
Benefits of Palladium:
It has the lowest melting point and density among the PGM
It has a high resistance to oxidation and corrosion
It does not tarnish in air
It has superior catalytic properties due to the fact that it has the astounding capability to absorb hydrogen gas at a rate of 900 times its own volume.
When it is annealed it becomes soft and ductile and when cold-worked it becomes stronger and harder
It is chemically stable and conductive and thus has several useful applications
Applications of Palladium:
Palladium has uses in electronics, dentistry, jewelry, coinage, fuel cells, oil refining, polyester, photography, chemical uses, water treatment and many more areas
Auto-catalysts are by-far the largest users of Palladium
Automobile Industry and Palladium:
Most automobiles use catalytic converters made from palladium. It is used as a catalyst for hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions and for petroleum cracking. Palladium provides cost advantages over platinum and it can handle higher temperatures, thus most automobile manufacturers use Palladium and there is great demand for it. Consumption will beat production by 511,000 ounces in 2013, or about what the car industry uses every seven weeks, Barclays Plc estimates. The number of automobiles is projected to double in the next 30 years, which means the demand for Palladium is going to increase significantly.
Sources of Palladium:
Palladium occurs in nature as a free metal and can also be alloyed with gold, platinum and other platinum group metals in placer deposits of the Ural Mountains, Australia, Ethiopia, North and South America. The most important commercial sources are nickel-copper deposits found in the Sudbury Basin, Ontario, and the Norilsk–Talnakh deposits in Siberia. Palladium is found in the rare minerals