Palladium Facts
Palladium Facts
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| Interesting Palladium Facts: |
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| Palladium was discovered in 1802 by William Hyde Wollaston. |
| The discovery was surrounded in controversy, with other scientists claiming palladium was simply a platinum alloy and not a new element. |
| Wollaston offered several anonymous offers for anyone who could isolate palladium. |
| Palladium's discovery was therefore credited to Richard Chenevix in 1803. |
| Wollaston discovered rhodium in 1804 and admitted in 1805 that he had also discovered palladium. |
| Palladium is a member of the platinum group metals, with five other elements. |
| Palladium is the least dense of any of the platinum group metals. |
| There are seven natural isotopes of palladium. |
| Six of those isotopes are stable. |
| There are twenty-one radioactive isotopes of palladium. |
| Palladium does not tarnish under normal conditions because it does not react with oxygen. |
| In order to tarnish by forming a coating of palladium oxide, it must be heated to at least 800 degrees Celsius. |
| Palladium is found naturally alloyed with gold or other PGMs. |
| Palladium is also found in the minerals polarite and copperite. |
| Russia and South Africa are the leading producers of palladium, each producing around 40% of the world's supply annually. |
| More than half of all palladium consumed annually goes into automobile catalytic converters. |
| Because it is found in catalytic converters, palladium can be recycled from those parts. |
| Palladium can also be recovered as a nuclear waste product from spent fuel rods. |
| Because of its easy diffusing of hydrogen when heated, palladium is still used to refine hydrogen gas. |
| At one time, palladium was used as an early treatment for tuberculosis, but its harmful side effects led to better treatment alternatives. |
| In certain amounts, palladium is prone to spontaneously igniting in air. |
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