Cadmium

What it is and where it is found
Cadmium is a silver-white, very soft metal with an outstanding corrosion resistance, but it is also toxic. (Melting point 320.9°C, boiling point 765°C). The specific weight is 8.65 g/cm³.
As a by-product of zinc electrolysis, it is an inevitable “must” metal and amounts to about 0.3 % of the occurrence of zinc. 

What it is used for
As a result of its high level of toxicity, cadmium probably is be the most controversial minor metal. In connection with quartz clocks we have just now started to discuss the toxicity of cadmium, although more than 70 % of total cadmium is used for the manufacture of batteries for watches. Such batteries which contain a Ni-Cd alloy are also found in pocket calculators, radios, shavers, cell phones, laptops etc. 
For technical reasons special babbitt metals and low-melting solders, however, still require cadmium as an alloying element, e.g. batteries in aircrafts, but contain only marginal quantities.

How it is traded
This metal is usually traded in the form of bars, balls, anodes and/or ingots with a degree of purity of 99.95 % or 99.99 % Cd.

Cadmium

Cadmium bars