Where and how to get palladium?

The chemical element Pd (palladium) belongs to precious metals, as it is a by-product formed during the chemical conversion of platinum. The metal was widely used in radio engineering parts in order to extend their service life. Today the demand for the precious metal is quite high, and its price even exceeds the cost of gold. For 1 gram of palladium, you can get up to 2000 rubles, so the excitement around this metal is high and does not lose its relevance for many years.

During the existence of the USSR, palladium was found everywhere in radio components, since thanks to this precious metal could be provided with high quality and reliability of manufactured radio and television equipment... Precious metals have a known resistance to corrosion and durability due to their resistance to abrasion. For this reason, palladium is in contact in capacitors, connectors, boards and catalysts, as well as wire for an oscilloscope. Significant and critical parts most likely contained platinum, gold, silver and palladium. You can look for precious metals in Soviet household appliances, in batteries, their content could be found in the details of measuring instruments, in spare parts for equipment used not only in everyday life, but also in industrial production.

Some enterprising people are engaged in mining (refining) palladium, and in order to make money on this, you need to know for sure which parts and spare parts contain this noble metal most of all. Of the total mass of radio components, palladium is contained in the largest amount in capacitors marked "KM".

For the purpose of extracting palladium, the most interesting devices may be:

• meters, voltmeters, analyzers, oscilloscopes, frequency meters;
• generator lamps, switches, resistors, capacitors, microcircuits;
• transistors, thyristors;
• scrap of radio components from military equipment;
• old generation computer hardware parts;
• catalysts installed in exhaust air purification systems;
• filters for cleaning air in gas masks, model DP-2, Soviet production;
• recorders of the KSD, KSU, KSP brands - in the wire of their spirals;
• potentiometers of the PPML and PTP brands.

From the point of view of chemistry, palladium is considered the most active metal of all metals belonging to the platinoid group.... In appearance, silver, platinum and palladium are very similar, and in order to determine at home where platinum is, you will need to take specially designed chemical reagents as an indicator. In addition, knowledge in the field of chemistry can be used to extract platinum - it is known that palladium reacts with a concentrated nitric acid solution to form a red tint on its surface. As for platinum, it does not possess such reaction properties.

Scrap metal containing palladium in its composition, in addition to this element, contains other impurities of precious metals. You can only remove impurities in a step-by-step way.

The procedure for refining palladium is presented below.

1. It is known that any metals are capable of dissolving in the so-called "aqua regia" - you will have to get it to do the job. The solution consists of 1 part concentrated nitric acid and 3 parts concentrated hydrochloric acid. Palladium scrap must be filled with this solution.
2. The container with scrap and acid should be shaken periodically for 1-2 days (it all depends on how much scrap you are processing), thereby mixing its contents. If over time you notice that the working solution has begun to acquire a reddish-burgundy hue, then palladium is definitely present in the scrap metal.
3. After dissolving the metals, it will be necessary to carry out a reduction reaction of the required components. Palladium can be reduced by combining it with a potassium iodide solution.
4. To separate palladium from silver, if it was in the composition of the alloy, ammonia will need to be introduced into the container. In such a composition, the dissolved metal components must be kept for an additional 2 more days.
5. The next step is to filter out the impurities of gold, which enters into a reductive reaction with zinc.
6. The final stage of refining will be filling the solution with palladium with hydrochloric acid. This will produce a precipitate in the form of orange-yellow flakes. This precipitate must be filtered, washed repeatedly with clean water, and then several times with alcohol. The resulting mass in the form of a suspension of fine particles must be dried, resulting in a powder of crushed palladium.
7. The resulting palladium powder can be remelted using a burner into a larger piece of precious metal. To perform such remelting, a gasoline or gas burner is used.

See below for an illustrative process for refining palladium.

All stages of the palladium refining process are considered hazardous to human health to varying degrees. Therefore, when performing these works, it is necessary to take measures for personal protection. To do this, you will need:

• put on a wide and long apron made of thick rubberized material;
• hands should be protected with acid-resistant gloves;
• eyes must be protected with wide goggles;
• to protect the respiratory system, you need to work in a special chemical respirator.

Work on the extraction of palladium from scrap metal must be carried out with the exhaust device turned on or in the open air. This is necessary so that vapors emanating from concentrated acids, which are fatal to the human body, do not collect near you.

After finishing work, you need to wash your hands with soap, wash your face and rinse your mouth with clean water. If acid solutions get on the skin, you will urgently need to rinse the affected area with plenty of running water and urgently seek medical attention.

Derived from various parts by affinity palladium can be used as a chemical catalyst to speed up reaction processes, and also this metal is used in jewelry for the repair of jewelry or products, made from palladium. Many palladium miners are attracted by its constant market price and strong demand, compared to a small supply.