The essentials
Here is a brief description of indium.
- Standard state: solid at 298 K
- Colour: silvery lustrous grey
- Classification: Metallic
- Availability:
indium is available in several forms including bar, foil, pieces, powder, nanosized activated powder, rod, shot, sheet, and wire.

Small and large samples of indium wire like this, as well as foil, and sheet, can be purchased from Advent Research Materials via their web catalogue.
Indium is a very soft, silvery-white metal with a brilliant lustre. The pure metal gives a high-pitched "scream" when bent. It wets glass, as does gallium. It is useful for making low-melting alloys. An alloy of 24% indium and 76% gallium is liquid at room temperature. Canada produces the majority of of the world's supply of indium.
Isolation
Here is a brief summary of the isolation of indium.
Indium would not normally be made in the laboratory as it is commercially available. Indium is a byproduct of the formation of lead and zinc. Indium metal is isolated by the electrolysis of indium salts in water. Further processes are required to make very pure indium for electronics purposes.
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