In this article, we will introduce the somewhat more geeky ‘palladium’.

It may not be familiar to you, but it is actually a metal that you see in everyday life.

You may be using it without notice. Perhaps you have palladium in your mouth.

In this article, we, who manufacture sputtering equipment and other products for atomic-level processing, will explain Palladium in simple terms.

We explain not only its properties and characteristics, but also what it is used for in society, etymology and discoverer.

Let’s take a quick look.

Properties and characteristics of Palladium

Palladium is a member of the platinum group of metals and, like gold and silver, is a ‘precious metal’.

Palladium is a metal with a low melting point and is relatively easy to process.

Palladium is also a metal that can absorb approximately 935 times its volume of hydrogen, and this property is often used to store hydrogen.

As of December 2022, the market value is about ‘8,448 yen’ for ‘1g’.

Considering that gold costs 8,509, this is a very expensive metal.

As an aside, in 2019 it had a higher market value than gold.

How Palladium is used in society

Palladium is used in ‘silver tooth material’, ‘exhaust gas purification’ and ‘jewelry ‘.

Let’s look at each of them.

Palladium is useful ‘Silver tooth material’

Silver teeth, one of the methods of dental treatment, are actually made of a gold-silver-palladium alloy containing 20% palladium and 12% gold, rather than pure silver.

As an aside, gold teeth are made from an alloy of gold, silver, copper and platinum, but silver teeth are generally used as they are stronger. (Gold teeth are also more expensive because they are not covered by insurance)

Palladium is useful ‘Exhaust gas purification’

Palladium is also used to purify toxic substances, mainly in vehicle exhaust fumes.

Palladium is used as a three-way catalytic converter—a remarkable material capable of simultaneously purifying three pollutants: carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.

It is often used on the slightly bulging part of the muffler (exhaust port of the car) where it is attached.

Palladium is useful ‘jewelry’

Even when it comes to jewelry, palladium is almost never used on its own.

Often used as a ‘split gold’, it is sometimes mixed with palladium to make white gold or to adjust the hardness of platinum.

It is the behind-the-scenes helpmeet for metal accessories.

History of Palladium

Chemical symbol; Pd

The word palladium is taken from the ‘asteroid Pallas’.

Asteroid Pallas was discovered in the same year as Palladium, and its origin is taken from the Greek myth of Pallas Athene.

As for its discovery, it was discovered in 1803 by the English physician ‘William Wollaston’.

He is an unusual doctor-turned-chemist, who also discovered ‘rhodium’.

Summary

In this article, we have described ‘palladium’.

The key points of this article are as follows.

• Palladium is a precious metal, an element that is easy to process, can absorb hydrogen and is of equal or greater value than gold.
• Used as a material for silver teeth, to purify exhaust gases, and in jewelry.
• Palladium was discovered in 1803 by ‘William’ in England and took its name from the asteroid Pallas

The other elements studied in high school are summarized in the following articles.

Please see also the following pages for a further understanding!