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Element
Palladium
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Palladium
(Wikipedia)
Palladium
is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic
number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white
metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William
Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas,
which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek
goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas.
Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and
osmium form a group of elements referred to as the
platinum group metals (PGMs). They have similar chemical
properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point
and is the least dense of them.
More
than half the supply of palladium and its congener
platinum is used in catalytic converters, which convert
as much as 90% of the harmful gases in automobile
exhaust (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen
dioxide) into nontoxic substances (nitrogen, carbon
dioxide and water vapor). Palladium is also used in
electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification,
chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and
jewelry. Palladium is a key component of fuel cells,
in which hydrogen and oxygen react to produce electricity,
heat, and water.
Ore
deposits of palladium and other PGMs are rare. The
most extensive deposits have been found in the norite
belt of the Bushveld Igneous Complex covering the
Transvaal Basin in South Africa; the Stillwater Complex
in Montana, United States; the Sudbury Basin and Thunder
Bay District of Ontario, Canada; and the Norilsk Complex
in Russia. Recycling is also a source, mostly from
scrapped catalytic converters. The numerous applications
and limited supply sources result in considerable
investment interest. (Wikipedia)
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