What Is Palladium? | Discovery, Properties, Uses, and Price
Known to be scarce, palladium is a chemical element that’s often derived from refining other metals like nickel, copper, and platinum. You may have heard about this rare metal and its uses across various industries. But do you know that you can also invest in palladium coins?
This guide will go over what palladium is, its physical and chemical properties, how this physical metal is used, and whether or not it’s a good investment.
What Is Palladium Metal?
Palladium is a shiny metal that’s incredibly valuable. It’s also the least understood element among the six platinum group metals. This chemical element carries the symbol Pd and has an atomic number of 46. Palladium also has the lowest melting point (2,861.2 °F).
You can find palladium on the periodic table next to other platinum group metals (PGMs) like rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium.
Is Palaydum Nedir the Same as Palladium?
Palladium is a precious metal, while “Palaydum Nedir” is a Turkish question that translates to “What is palladium?”.
Physical and Chemical Properties of Palladium
Like the other PGMs, palladium has a unique set of physical and chemical properties. This versatile metal demonstrates a distinct chemical behavior, including exceptional resistance.
With a silvery white appearance, palladium is the lightest among the other PGMs. It also melts at a lower temperature, making this metal incredibly versatile for various industrial applications and alloy production.
Palladium can absorb hydrogen in huge quantities. In fact, it’s estimated that this precious metal can soak up to 900 times its volume in hydrogen gas.
Heated palladium that’s exposed to hydrogen causes the gas to diffuse rapidly through the metal. This property makes palladium great for hydrogen purification systems.
A key thing to remember is that palladium is resistant to most chemicals. However, it can slowly dissolve in nitric acid to form palladium(II) nitrate.
The Discovery of Palladium
William Hyde Wollaston, an English chemist, discovered palladium in 1802. He extracted it from crude platinum ore sourced from South America, initially selling it to a small shop in Soho anonymously in 1803. Later, he presented his formal findings to the Royal Society.
Wollaston named the element after the asteroid Pallas, discovered one year earlier. The asteroid took its name from Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war.
Where Is Palladium Found?
Considered to be a rare precious metal that can be found in the Earth’s crust, it is often produced as a by-product of nickel and copper mining.
While you can find palladium across the mines of South Africa, Canada, and the United States, Russia is the largest producer of this precious metal. Some of the major sources of palladium include the following:
- Norilsk-Talnakh deposits in Russia
- Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa
- Montana’s Stillwater Complex and Ontario’s Sudbury Basin in North America
Extracting palladium is incredibly labor-intensive. To separate this precious metal from the ores, mining companies must resort to complex and costly refining processes.
What Is Palladium Used For?
Palladium is used across many different industries, including the following:
Automotive
The automotive industry consumes a major chunk of the global palladium production. Most palladium (alongside rhodium) is used in catalytic converters to transform toxic gases into carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Due to its hydrogen absorption properties, palladium is also used in fuel cell systems to detect leaks. This precious metal also acts as a catalyst (hydrogen and oxygen react) to produce electricity.
Jewelry
The use of palladium in jewelry dates all the way back to 1939. Jewelers would mix this precious metal with yellow gold to make white gold, which is harder, durable, and hypoallergenic.
Today, you can find palladium jewelry in many forms, including rings, trinkets, bracelets, and more.
Dental
In the dental industry, palladium plays an important role. However, there is a common misconception that this precious metal is used to make dental fillings and dental amalgams. That’s not true.
Palladium is often combined with other metals to make biocompatible, strong, and corrosion-resistant alloys. They are an important component in full metal restorations, bridges, and crowns.
Other Palladium Uses
There are many other industrial and chemical applications of palladium, including the following:
- Electronics manufacturing for multi-layer ceramic capacitors
- Groundwater treatment systems that remove pollutants
- Catalysts in pharmaceutical and chemical reactions
- Hydrogen purification using palladium membranes
Is the Palladium Element Expensive?
Palladium is a rare metal that has a high demand and low supply. It is also difficult to mine and process. These factors can cause the price of palladium to skyrocket in the commodities markets.
Palladium Prices Explained
Palladium prices can fluctuate much more than gold. While it often trades at a substantial premium over silver spot prices, this precious metal has even surpassed the spot price of gold between 2019 and 2022.
What Is the Price of Palladium?
At the time of writing this guide, the spot price of palladium stood at $1,275.80 per troy ounce.
Is Palladium a Good Investment?
Due to the constantly growing industrial demand, many investors believe palladium is a good investment. Like gold, it is a great opportunity for people seeking exposure to the interesting precious metals market.
It’s important to understand that market conditions can change at any time, affecting the price of palladium. Investors must do their own research before investing their hard-earned money.
How to Invest in Palladium
Are you interested in investing in palladium? Here are several ways you can do that:
Invest in Palladium Exchange-Traded Funds
You can invest in palladium exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which work in the following two ways:
- There are physical palladium ETFs that let you invest in a physical stockpile of this precious metal. They are stored in secure vaults, and investors can buy shares of this investment vehicle.
- Another way you can invest in palladium is through equity-based palladium ETFs. These are funds that hold stocks of mining companies, exploration firms, and precious metal refiners.
Buy Palladium Bullion Coins
While many investors prefer to invest in ETFs, some may invest in tangible assets. To add palladium to your investment portfolio, you can buy palladium bullion coins just like any other gold or silver coins. This way, you will have direct physical ownership of the precious metal. However, storing huge amounts of palladium can be difficult and expensive.
Open a Precious Metals IRA Account
If you want to invest in precious metals but storage is a problem, consider opening a precious metals individual retirement account (IRA). This is a tax-advantaged account that lets you enjoy the long-term price appreciation of precious metals while offering tax benefits.
