Palladium

Palladium is a rare, silvery-white transition metal in the platinum family. It is easy to shape and resists tarnishing in air. Its main use is in vehicle catalytic converters, where it speeds up reactions that turn harmful exhaust gases into less harmful substances. Palladium can also absorb large amounts of hydrogen into its structure, an unusual ability studied for hydrogen storage. In nature, it occurs with nickel, copper and other platinum-family metals, with important deposits in Russia, South Africa and Canada. Producers separate and refine palladium from these mixed ores, and recover additional metal by recycling worn-out catalytic converters. Small natural deposits also contain palladium alloyed with gold or platinum-family metals.