Pd
Palladium · Pd metal
Palladium is a stable, metallic noble element widely utilized as a highly effective catalyst in diverse chemical synthesis and purification processes.
About Palladium
Palladium is a noble transition metal characterized by its distinct metallic electronic structure. As a thermodynamically stable element, it serves as a foundational material in the platinum-group alloy catalyst family, prized for its exceptional ability to facilitate complex chemical transformations.
Its utility stems from its high structural reliability and chemical versatility. With extensive experimental documentation across numerous crystal structures, it remains a cornerstone material for high-performance catalytic applications in both laboratory and industrial settings.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Palladium, aggregated across 6 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Pd. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Pd, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | cubic | 0.69 | 0.0000 | 4.038 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -0.000 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -22.960 | 11.76 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.007 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0015 | 0.001 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0027 | 0.003 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0141 | 0.014 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0150 | -22.945 | 11.73 |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0182 | 0.018 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0226 | -22.938 | 11.38 |
Applications
Where Palladium is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Palladium, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Pd?
Palladium is a stable, metallic noble element widely utilized as a highly effective catalyst in diverse chemical synthesis and purification processes.
What is Pd used for?
What is the band gap of Pd?
Is Pd a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Pd thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Pd?
How many polymorphs of Pd are known?
What elements does Pd contain?
Where does the data for Pd come from?
How It Compares
Within the platinum-group alloy catalysts class.
Unlike complex intermetallic compounds such as BaPd or LaRh, which incorporate additional elements to tune electronic properties, elemental palladium serves as the pure, high-activity benchmark against which other platinum-group alloy catalysts are measured.
Related Compounds
Other Platinum-Group Alloy Catalysts in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
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