Influence of Rare-Earth Elements on Electrical Properties of Pd
Influence of Rare-Earth Elements on ElectricalProperties of Pd

The influence of RE (RE = La, Ce. Pr. Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd. Tb. Dy, Er, Yb) additives with dilute concentrations on the electrical properties of Pd has been studied. All RE elements increase the specific resistivity (ρ) and decrease the resistance temperature coefficient (α) of Pd. and (ρ.α) Pd-RE ls equal to (ρ· α)Pd.The RE elements before Gd reduce the thermo-emf of Pd on Cu. other heavy RE enhance the thermo-emf.The experimental data of normalized Pd-0.1 at.-%RE alloys indicate that the effect of light RE additives on the specific resistivity of Pd is larger than that of heavy RE and Ce. Eu and Yb show anomalous strong effect. The valence and atomic size are main factors influencing the electrical properties.