THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS
March 2008
Volume 23, Number 2
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Millions of small holograms embedded in European bank notes are produced in highly precise
nickel electroformed moulds.
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Nickel electroforming underpins important sectors of the
EU economy
By Virginia Heffernan
Nickel Magazine, March 2008 -- Some of the largest industries in Europe
are becoming more efficient, competitive and secure as a result of nickel electroforming, a simple process
that can be used in a myriad of ways.
Take aerospace, which has an annual turnover of 80 billion euros and employs almost half a million people.
Manufacturers are reducing the weight and fuel consumption of airplanes, and increasing lifespan, by using
lighter, stronger materials produced to precise tolerances in electroformed moulds.
Or textiles – an industry in which Europe has managed to stay competitive by guaranteeing high levels of
precision and accuracy while increasing production levels.
The European Union (EU) produces nearly 15% of the world’s textiles, which in turn sustains more than 2.5
million jobs, according to the Weinberg Group, a scientific and regulatory consulting firm based in Brussels,
Belgium.
In the case of textiles, it isn't moulds but rotary screens that make the difference. Electroforming
creates precise, finely patterned screens, which transfer intricate and colourful patterns to textiles,
wallpaper and carpets.
The common denominator in both moulds and rotary screen technology is nickel. During the electroforming
process, nickel or other metal in solution is electroplated onto a mandrel in order to reproduce the pattern
on the mandrel’s surface. Although gold, silver and copper can all be electroformed, nickel is the metal of
choice because it is versatile, resists heat, corrosion and abrasion, and can be electro-deposited
quickly.
Another, lesser known application of nickel electroforming is the millions of small, detailed holograms
embedded in bank cards and notes. Banks rely on electroforming to create the extremely precise moulds needed
to protect the integrity of transactions. The Weinberg Group says this kind of protection is increasingly
important given the recent increase in identity theft.
Billions of CDs, DVDs and computer games are produced using a similar kind of precise replication technology
enabled by electroforming. Roughly 20 billion CDs and DVDs are produced worldwide every year, according to
the Content Delivery and Storage Association, and about 100,000 of those can be created from a single
electroformed mould. In the EU, entertainment applications in this sector generate annual sales of 40 billion
euros and sustain 400,000 jobs, according to the Weinberg Group.
The Weinberg report concludes that nickel electroforming supports the competitiveness of some of the largest
industrial and service sectors in the EU. Thanks to ongoing improvements in efficiency, sustainability and
innovation, the process also reduces resource and energy consumption.
Virginia Heffernan is a Toronto-based freelance science writer..
Photos: istockphoto.com/Peter Mlekuz
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