Palladium

Palladium

Symbol	Pd
Atomic Number	46
Atomic Mass	106.42g.mol-1
Discovered by	William Hyde Wollaston

Table of Contents

• Chemical Properties of Palladium
• What is Palladium?
• Uses of Palladium
• Properties of Palladium
• Certain Facts About Palladium

Chemical Properties of Palladium

What is Palladium?

• Palladium(Pd), the chemical element with an atomic number of 46, is a rare element and has a lustrous silver appearance.
• Discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in the year 1803.
• The metal was named after the asteroid Pallas of the Greek goddess Athena.

Uses of Palladium

• The metal serves as a catalyst in many chemical processes like hydrogenation, petroleum cracking, and dehydrogenation.
• Palladium is a Lindlar catalyst and is sometimes referred to as Lindlar Palladium.
• Used in electrodes and also being a major component for multi-layer ceramic capacitors.
• Being an absorbent of hydrogen, used for storage of the same.
• Used for jewellery making since time immemorial.
• Used by photographers in making fine art with black and white prints using palladium salts.

Properties of Palladium

• The metal is highly resistant to corrosion in the air and some acids at room temperatures.
• It will dissolve in aqua regia and can be attacked by hot acids.
• It can form several salts and also form different compounds.
• A special feature of Palladium is that it absorbs hydrogen to a great extent (nearly 900 times its own volume).

Certain Facts About Palladium

• The metal has an incredible capacity to absorb hydrogen 900 times more than any other metal.
• Despite the metal being biologically inactive, it triggers allergies among certain people.
• Palladium is a fairly non-toxic metal.