Palladium and Silver - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of palladium and silver, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Palladium vs Silver.

palladium and silver - comparison

Compare palladium with another element

Compare silver with another element

Palladium and Silver – About Elements

Palladium

Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). These 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.

Silver

Silver is a soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earth’s crust in the pure, free elemental form (“native silver”), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

Palladium in Periodic Table

Silver in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Palladium and Silver – Applications

Palladium

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 into less noxious substances. Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewelry. Palladium-based alloys are being extensively used in fuel cell technology applications. The metal is also employed in historic photographic printing process. Palladium has been used as a precious metal in jewelry since 1939 as an alternative to platinum in the alloys called “white gold”.

Silver

Silver has long been valued as a precious metal. Silver metal is used in many bullion coins, sometimes alongside gold. Silver has many important, far-reaching technological and electronic applications. It’s used in everything from cell phones, computers and semiconductors to automobiles, water-purification systems and—because it is the best conductor of heat of all elements—spacecraft solar radiation tiles. Silver is of the upmost importance in photography (where approximately 30% of the U.S. Industrial consumption goes into this application). The medical uses of silver include its use in wound dressings, creams, and as an antibiotic coating on medical devices. Wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials may be used on external infections.

Palladium and Silver – Comparison in Table

Element	Palladium	Silver
Density	12.023 g/cm3	10.49 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	135 MPa	110 MPa
Yield Strength	30 MPa	45 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	121 GPa	83 GPa
Mohs Scale	4.8	3.25
Brinell Hardness	320 MPa	210 MPa
Vickers Hardness	400 MPa	251 MPa
Melting Point	1554.9 °C	961.78 °C
Boiling Point	2963 °C	2162 °C
Thermal Conductivity	72 W/mK	430 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	11.8 µm/mK	18.9 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.24 J/g K	0.235 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	17.6 kJ/mol	11.3 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	357 kJ/mol	250.58 kJ/mol