[/img]As you're no doubt aware, some of the precious metals used in
consumer electronics -- like palladium -- can be both pricey and hard
to come by, which has prompted some to harvest the materials from old
electronics and reuse them, while others have been busily working on
more readily available alternatives. Among that latter group are a
team of researchers from Japan's Kyoto University, who have just
announced that they've managed to create a palladium-like alloy using
what's being described as "present-day alchemy." More specifically,
they used nanotechnology to combine (and "nebulise") rhodium and
silver, which don't ordinarily mix, into the new composite, which they
say could eventually replace the real thing in a whole range of
electronics and other products. Unfortunately, it's not clear when
that might happen, but the researchers aren't just stopping at
palladium -- they're apparently already looking at using a similar
process to create other alloys.
[Image credit: Jurii / Wikimedia Commons]
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