The chemical element indium

Indium is a soft, silver-white and rare heavy metal whose natural, economically degradable deposits will soon be exhausted. It is a by-product of lead and zinc mining and is regarded as one of the scarcest raw materials of all. The main application of indium is indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used as a transparent semiconductor in touch screens and optical sensors, for example in digital cameras, in small quantities, making recycling from these sources more difficult.

Other applications include metallic seals, fuses, special solders, sprinkler systems and storage layers of CD/DVD-RWs.

Indium recycling at Spezialmetalle »