Artificial Palladium Alloy Created Using Nanotechnology, Alchemy
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Japanese scientists from Kyoto University have announced that they’ve managed to create a “palladium-like” alloy using what they label as “present-day alchemy.” They used nanotechnology to combine rhodium and silver into the new alloy, which they say could eventually replace the real thing in consumer electronics.
Professor Hiroshi Kitagawa and his team used nanotechnology to combine rhodium and silver to produce an alloy with similar properties to palladium, which is located between rhodium and silver on the periodic table. These two metals usually would not mix, as rhodium has 45 electrons and silver 47, and so are stable elements unable to react with each other under normal conditions. The research team overcame this hurdle by mixing rhodium and silver in solution which was then turned into a mist and mixed with heated alcohol. This process produced particles of the new alloy that are around 10 nanometres in diameter.