APR 29

Preliminary   > Science and Technology   >   Everyday S&T   >   Miscellaneous

Why in news?

  • Palladium tops $3,000 for first time amid undersupply.

About Palladium:

  • Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston.
  • 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 less noxious 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, which react hydrogen with oxygen 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.

Prelims Question

In which of the following fields is Palladium, a rare metal, used:
3.Fuel Cells
4.Ground water treatment
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a)1,2 and 3 only
(b)2,3 and 4 only
(c)1 and 3 only
(d)1,2,3 and 4

Answer to Prelims question