Mercury-Cadmium-Boron- Aluminum-

Nickel-Palladium

CHE 1103
Atienza, Wilson
Castillo, Mary Grace
Sardea, April
Suanes, Emar
Tingson, Leonel
Velasquez, Ram Lloyd
MERCURY (Hg)

Description
 Mercury is a chemical elements with symbol Hg, atomic number 80 and has atomic mass of
200.59;
 The name mercury originated in 6th-century alchemy, in which the symbol of the planet was
used to represent the metal;
 The chemical symbol Hg derives from the Latin hydrargyrum, “liquid silver”;
 Mercury is the only elemental metal that is liquid at room temperature;
 Mercury is silvery white, slowly tarnishes in moist air.
Occurrence
 Mercury occurs in Earth’s crust on the average of
about 0.08 gram (0.003 ounce) per ton of rock;
 The principal ore is the red sulfide and cinnabar;
 Native mercury occurs in isolated drops and
occasionally in larger fluid masses, usually with
cinnabar, near volcanoes or hot springs;
 Over two-thirds of the world supply of mercury
comes from China, with most of the remainder
coming from Kyrgyzstan and Chile;
 It is often a by-product of gold mining.
Properties
 Mercury freezes into a soft solid like tin or lead at
−38.87 °C (−37.97 °F) and boils at 356.9 °C (674
°F);
 Mercury does not wet glass or cling to it;
 Gold and silver dissolve readily in mercury, and in
the past this property was used in the extraction of
these metals from their ores.
Uses
 The use of mercury in the manufacture
of chlorine and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)
by electrolysis of brine depends upon the fact that mercury employed as the negative pole,
or cathode, dissolves the sodium liberated to form a liquid amalgam;
 Although its toxicity was recognized at an early date, its main application was for medical
purposes;
 Its rapid and uniform volume expansion throughout its liquid range make it useful
in thermometers. Barometers and manometers utilize its high density and low vapour
pressure.
Manufacture/ Processes
 Most of the methods of extraction of mercury rely on the volatility of the metal and the fact
that cinnabar is readily decomposed by air or by lime to yield the free metal;

References:

https://www.britannica.com/science/mercury-chemical-element
Cadmium (Cd)
Description
 Cadmium is a chemical element with symbol Cd and atomic
number 48.
 This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group
12, namely zinc and mercury.
 Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds, and like mercury, it
has a lower melting point than the transition metals in groups 3 through 11.
Occurrences
 No significant deposits of cadmium-containing ores are known. Thus, cadmium is produced
mainly as a by-product of mining, smelting, and refining sulfidic ores of zinc, and, to a
lesser degree, lead and copper.
 Small amounts of cadmium, about 10% of consumption, are produced from secondary
sources, mainly from dust generated by
recycling iron and steel scrap.
Properties
 Cadmium is a soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-
white divalent metal. It is similar in many
respects to zinc but forms complex compounds.
 Unlike most other metals, cadmium is resistant
to corrosion and is used as a protective plate on
other metals.
 As a bulk metal, cadmium is insoluble in water
and is not flammable; however, in its powdered
form it may burn and release toxic fumes
 Cadmium burns in air to form brown
amorphous cadmium oxide (CdO); the
crystalline form of this compound is a dark red
which changes color when heated, similar to
zinc oxide.

Uses

 Cadmium’s major use is in batteries

(especially rechargeable nickel–cadmium,
NiCad, batteries).
 It has low coefficient of friction and its high fatigue resistance, cadmium is used in
alloys for bearings. 
 Cadmium is used in low melting alloys and is a component of many kinds of solder.
Manufacture/Processes
 Rocks mined for phosphate fertilizers contain varying amounts of cadmium, resulting in a
cadmium concentration of as much as 300 mg/kg in the fertilizers and a high cadmium
content in agricultural soils.
 Coal can contain significant amounts of cadmium, which ends up mostly in flue
dust.Cadmium in soil can be absorbed by crops such as rice.Some plants such as willow
trees and poplars have been found to clean both lead and cadmium from soil.
 References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium
https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele048.html
https://www.chemicool.com/elements/cadmium.html
Boron (B)

Description:
 a chemical element with symbol B and atomic number 5.
 Produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovae and not by stellar
nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in the Solar system and in the Earth's crust.
 Boron is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally
occurring compounds, the borate minerals.
 a metalloid that is found in small amounts in meteoroids but chemically uncombined boron
is not otherwise found naturally on Earth
Properties:
 Pure crystalline boron is a black, lustrous semiconductor.
 it conducts electricity like a metal at high temperatures and is almost an insulator at low
temperatures.
Occurrence:
 Boron was first isolated (1808) by French
chemists Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and
Louis-Jacques Thenard and independently
by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy by
heating boron oxide (B2O3) with potassium
metal.
 The impure amorphous product, a brownish
black powder, was the only form of boron
known for more than a century.
 Pure crystalline boron may be prepared
with difficulty by reduction of its bromide
or chloride (BBr3, BCl3) with hydrogen on
an electrically heated tantalum filament.
Uses:
 Boron are widely used to increase hardness
in steel.
 used in the nonferrous-metals industry,
generally as a deoxidizer, in copper-base
alloys and high-conductance copper as a degasifier, and in aluminum castings to refine the
grain.
 In the form of boric acid or borates, traces of boron are necessary for growth of many land
plants and thus are indirectly essential for animal life
Manufacturing Process

 To produce a relatively pure form of boron powder, boron oxide that is present in the
mineral is heated with magnesium or aluminum flux. The reduction produces elemental
boron powder that is roughly 92 percent pure.Pure boron can be produced by further
reducing boron halides with hydrogen at temperatures over 1500 C (2732 F).High-purity
boron, required for use in semiconductors, can be made by decomposing diborane at high
temperatures and growing single crystals via zone melting or the Czolchralski method.

References
https://www.britannica.com/science/boron-chemical-element#ref8338
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron
https://www.thebalance.com/metal-profile-boron-4039140
Aluminum (Al)
Description
 a lightweight, silvery-white metal of main Group 13 (IIIa, or boron group) of the periodic
table.
 By mass, aluminium makes up about 8% of the Earth's crust; it is the third most abundant
element after oxygen and silicon and the most abundant metal in the crust, though it is less
common in the mantle below. It is found combined in over 270 different minerals.
 The name aluminum is derived from the Latin word alumen, used to describe potash alum,
or aluminum potassium sulfate, KAl(SO4)2∙12H2O
Properties
 Aluminium is remarkable for its low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the
phenomenon of passivation.
 Pure aluminum (99.996 percent) is quite soft and weak; commercial aluminum (99 to 99.6
percent pure) with small amounts of silicon and iron
is hard and strong. The metal is only about one-third
as dense as iron or copper.
 Though chemically active, aluminum is
nevertheless highly corrosion-resistant, because in
air a hard, tough oxide film forms on its surface.
 Aluminum is an excellent conductor
of heat and electricity. Its thermal conductivity is
about one-half that of copper; its electrical
conductivity, about two-thirds.
 It is the second most malleable metal and the sixth
most ductile.
Occurrences
 Aluminum occurs in igneous rocks chiefly as
aluminosilicates in feldspars, feldspathoids,
and micas; in the soil derived from them as clay;
and upon further weathering as bauxite and iron-
rich laterite.
 Bauxite, a mixture of hydrated aluminum oxides, is
the principal aluminum ore. Crystalline aluminum
oxide (emery, corundum), which occurs in a few
igneous rocks, is mined as a natural abrasive or in
its finer varieties as rubies and sapphires.
 Of the many other aluminum
minerals, alunite and cryolite have some commercial importance.
Manufacturing process
 Crude aluminum was isolated (1825) by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted by reducing
aluminum chloride with potassium amalgam. British chemist Sir Humphry Davy had
prepared (1809) an iron-aluminum alloy by electrolyzing fused alumina (aluminum oxide)
and had already named the element aluminum.
Uses
 Aluminum is used in a huge variety of products including cans, foils, kitchen utensils,
window frames, beer kegs and aeroplane parts. This is because of its particular properties. It
is the second most malleable metal and the sixth most ductile.
 When evaporated it produces aluminum coatings which have many uses, including telescope
mirrors, decorative paper, packages and toys.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium
http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/13/aluminium
https://www.britannica.com/science/aluminum
Nickel (Ni)
Description

 Nickel is a chemical element with symbol “Ni”, atomic number of 28, and atomic mass of
58.693;
 Nickel is a naturally occurring, lustrous, silvery-white metallic element;
 It is the fifth most common element on earth and occurs extensively in the earth's crust;
 Most of the nickel is inaccessible in the core of the earth.
Occurrence
 Native nickel occurs in nature alloyed with iron in meteorites, and in a few terrestrial
minerals; But the native element is a curiosity of no industrial importance.
 Workable deposits of nickel are rare; the most important deposits occur in Ontario, Canada,
and in New Caledonia. These deposits control the world's market for the metal.
Properties
Physical properties
 Color : Silvery-white metal
 Phase : Solid
 Conductivity: Fairly good conductor of
heat and electricity
 Ductility: It can be beaten into
extremely thin sheets
 Malleability: It’s capable of being
shaped or bent
 Luster: Exhibits a shine or glow
 Hardness: Harder than iron
Chemical Properties
 Corrosion: highly resistant to rusting
and corrosion
 Reactivity with Oxygen: Nickel metal
does not react with air under ambient
conditions but in the finely dispersed
state nickel it ignites spontaneously in
air
 Alloys: Stainless steel and copper-
nickel alloy tubing
 Compounds: Used for electroplating
and to make nickel alloys.
Uses
 About 65% of the nickel which is produced is used to manufacture stainless steels;
 About 20% is used in other steel and non-ferrous alloys - often for highly specialized
industrial, aerospace and military applications;
 About 9% is used in plating and 6% in other uses, including coins, electronics, and in
batteries for portable equipment and hybrid cars;
 There is no substitute for nickel without reducing performance or increasing cost;
 Nickel is essential for healthy plant life. As a result, it is found naturally in most vegetables,
fruits and nuts, and in the food products derived from them, for example – chocolate and
wine.
Manufacture
 The extraction of nickel from ore follows much the same route as copper, and indeed, in a
number of cases, similar processes and equipment are used;
 The major differences in equipment are the use of higher-temperature refractories and the
increased cooling required to accommodate the higher operating temperatures in nickel
production.
References

https://www.nickelinstitute.org/NickelUseInSociety/AboutNickel/NickelMetaltheFacts.aspx
PALLADIUM (Pd)
Description
 Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and
lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston.
 He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek
goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas.
 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
Occurrence
 Palladium has been found uncombined in nature, in Brazil, but most is found in sulfide
minerals such as braggite. It is extracted commercially as a by-product of nickel refining. It
is also extracted as a by-product of copper and zinc refining.
Properties
 A precious gray-white metal, palladium is
extremely ductile and easily worked.
 Palladium is not tarnished by
the atmosphere at ordinary temperatures.
Uses
 Thus, the metal and its alloys serve as
substitutes for platinum in jewelry and in
electrical contacts; the beaten leaf is used
for decorative purposes.
 Relatively small amounts of palladium
alloyed with gold yield the best white gold.
Palladium is used also in dental alloys.
 The chief use of palladium, however, is
in automobile catalytic converters (often in
combination with rhodium); the palladium
serves as a catalyst to convert
polluting hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide,
and nitrogen oxide in the exhaust
to water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.
 Palladium coatings, electrodeposited or
chemically plated, have been used in
printed-circuit components, and palladium
is also used in
multilayer ceramic capacitors.
Manufacturing Process
 The production of palladium starts usually from the residue of the production of another
metal, typically nickel. The chemical differences between the metals in this residue are used
to separate them.
 Though palladium can be found in deposits alloyed with gold and platinum, the commercial
production of palladium starts with nickel–copper deposits found in Canada and South
Africa. The large amount of nickel-copper ore that is processed makes the extraction of
palladium profitable despite its low concentration.

References
https://www.zmescience.com/other/great-pics/illustrated-elements-periodic-table-0423/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium
http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/46/palladium
https://www.britannica.com/science/palladium-chemical-element
http://www.agiboo.com/commodity-knowledge-center/commodities/palladium/