Named by British chemist William Hyde Wollaston, after the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas, palladium was discovered in 1804. After 200 years of relative lackluster use, palladium has been recognized as a key component in combating pollution.

After obtaining pure platinum samples in 1801, Wollaston went on to isolate palladium from its parent metal by dissolving platinum in a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid, better known as “aqua regia”. He offered samples up for sale anonymously in hopes of keeping his process a secret. The initial reception was rather skeptical, as many people thought the derivative of platinum was useless. Thus, he published his findings in 1805.

Palladium is relatively rare. Produced across the world but in very select areas, production has never come close to the tonnage of even platinum. Russia’s Ural Mountains have traditionally been the palladium breadbasket of the world and in 1924 ore was found in South Africa. However, the process for obtaining palladium still requires going through platinum ore, using methods developed by Wollaston, or a process of electrolytic refining of copper. The International Nickel Company of Canada decided in 1930 to begin mass production of palladium using its vast stores of ore, and thus the metal became commercially available.

Thus, the world had its first viable source of palladium for industrial or private consumption. Heraeus, a German company, decided in 1931 to develop and patent palladium alloys with the other major precious metals. They became widely used in dentistry, and are still in use today.

Relatively unused for the next century and a half, palladium found use when scientists employed the metal in catalytic converters, where its remarkable properties assisted with the newly established emissions standards across the developed world. Following the expansion of emissions standards in the 1990’s, demand for this once-overlooked metal expanded. Present-day emissions standards require the use of metals such as platinum and palladium because of their superior properties; catalytic converters using these two metals convert up to 90 percent of harmful exhaust fumes into innocuous substances such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Each car or SUV sold in the USA today must be outfitted with a catalytic converter.

Aside from automobiles, palladium also enjoys regular use in electronics, specifically in areas where goldⁱ normally dominates. It’s now prevalent in switches and electrical contact areas because of superior conductive properties and a resistance to oxidation. Palladium is also used in paste form for capacitors. Even while palladium enjoys heavy industrial use, its limited supply means any interruption to the mining or deliveryⁱ process could have wide-reaching effects on a global scale.

For example, in 2000, the world’s biggest palladium supplier, the Russian company Norilsk Nickel, became unreliable in deliveries. Consequently, the market contracted and palladium surged to a high of $1,090 per ounce in 2001. Currently, the world enjoys an oversupply of the metal, but no one can be certain if another shortage will occur at any time.

As for future uses, scientists remain interested in potentially using palladium in fuel cell research. An exciting new technology, fuel cells are devices that combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water with minimal pollution. If the results are half of what’s expected, it could revolutionize man’s impact on the environment.