Editing Cadmium (section)

===Electroplating===
[[File:CdSeqdots.jpg|thumb|A photograph and representative spectrum of [[photoluminescence]] from colloidal CdSe [[quantum dot]]s]]
Cadmium [[electroplating]], consuming 6% of the global production, is used in the aircraft industry to reduce [[corrosion]] of steel components.<ref name="HgCdPb">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9yzN-QGag_8C|title = Mercury, Cadmium, Lead: Handbook for Sustainable Heavy Metals Policy and Regulation|first1 = Michael J.|last1 = Scoullos|last2= Vonkeman|first2=Gerrit H.|last3 = Thornton|first3=Iain|last4 = Makuch |first4=Zen| publisher = Springer|date = 2001|isbn = 978-1-4020-0224-3}}</ref> This coating is passivated by [[Chromate and dichromate|chromate]] salts.<ref name="fff">{{cite web |url=http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public//PubFulltext/RTO/MP/RTO-MP-025///MP-025-15.pdf |title=Advances to Protective Coatings and their Application to Ageing Aircraft |last1=Smith|first1=C.J.E.|last2=Higgs|first2=M.S.|last3=Baldwin|first3=K.R. |date=20 April 1999 |publisher=RTO MP-25 |access-date=29 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517202722/http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public/ |archive-date=17 May 2011}}</ref> A limitation of cadmium plating is [[hydrogen embrittlement]] of high-strength steels from the electroplating process. Therefore, steel parts heat-treated to tensile strength above 1300 MPa (200 ksi) should be coated by an alternative method (such as special low-embrittlement cadmium electroplating processes or physical vapor deposition).

Titanium embrittlement from cadmium-plated tool residues resulted in banishment of those tools (and the implementation of routine tool testing to detect cadmium contamination) in the A-12/SR-71, U-2, and subsequent aircraft programs that use titanium.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-12/breaking-through-technological-barriers.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071009211528/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-12/breaking-through-technological-barriers.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 9 October 2007|title = CIA – Breaking Through Technological Barriers – Finding The Right Metal (A-12 program)|date=1 October 2007}}</ref>