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| A relatively soft, bright shiny silver precious metal in the platinum group that is easily worked and widely used as a catalyst.
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Chunks.
Palladium has a remarkable ability to absorb hydrogen gas. The small pieces here are capable of soaking up over one liter of the gas. The H2 molecules can fit into the gaps between the Pd atoms in its crystal structure, causing slight expansion of the metal when this occurs. You may remember the researchers who thought they had discovered cold fusion in the 1980s were working with deuterium (a heavy isotope of hydrogen) absorbed into palladium.
Source: Johnson Matthey
Size: 0.25"
Purity: > 99.9%
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Leaf.
Palladium is another of the highly malleable precious metals that can be beaten into thin sheets called leaf. Like the gold and platinum leaf elsewhere in this display, this extremely thin foil is incredibly delicate. Removing the lid of the bottle and blowing in would be enough to break the palladium.
Source: artists supply shop
Size: 4" square
Purity: 99%
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Catalytic converter.
Easily the largest application for palladium is as the active ingredient (with platinum and often rhodium) in the catalytic converters that all new petrol automobiles must by law be equipped with. This honeycomb material is a piece of the active catalyst from a brand new converter which contains a few grams of the precious metals distributed as a fine powder over the large internal surface area. When hot exhaust from the engine is passed through this matrix, the plating group metals encourage oxygen to react with unburned fuel and carbon monoxide to burn to the less poisonous (but still environmentally harmful) carbon dioxide.
Source: Auto store
Size: 4" x 4"
Purity: n/a
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