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Palladium Pd
Where is palladium used--or where does it impact our everyday lives?
Used for jewelry
Used in some catalytic converters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles
Palladium is used in catalytic converters in automobiles to reduce environmentally harmful gases by reacting the toxic gases to form less harmful products.
Palladium is an oxidation catalyst: oxidizing carbon monoxide with oxygen to carbon dioxide
2CO + O2 --> 2CO2
and burning some unburned hydrocarbons to CO2 and H2O
Element: palladium
Symbol: Pd
Atomic # 46
Atomic mass: 106.4
Silvery-white metal at room temperature
Melting Point: 1,828K (1,555°C [2,831°F])
Boiling Point: 3236 K (2963°C [5365°F])
Density at room temperature: 12.0 g/mL
Hazards: Low toxicity but may cause skin, eye, or respiratory-tract irritation. Palladium has little environmental impact.
Reaction with oxygen when heated to 800 oC : 2Pd(s) + O2(g) → 2PdO(s)
No reaction with water
Electron configuration: [Kr] 4d10
Discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803, named after the recently discovered asteroid, Pallas.
Source lanl.gov
Researcher: Sophie A
Palladium is used in high-temperaure alloys in the anode of spark plugs in jet engines.
The Pratt and Whitney jet engine in the image is one from the F-35 on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia, USA
WIS Photographer
