Thank You for an Interesting Year

2007 was a great year for Nickel Magazine. We were privileged to bring you news of how nickel is used appropriately throughout the world.

Produced responsibly by about 20 companies worldwide, nickel brings unique attributes to hundreds of innovative materials and thousands of applications. And, because nickel-containing products are so intensively recycled, nickel’s value to future generations is not lost.

In this issue, we present an array of applications, both new and old, that further demonstrate nickel’s amazing versatility. You can read how:

• Nickel is being plated in micron-thin layers onto moulds that are used to make millions of fibreglass doors for homes;
• Nickel is adding strength and toughness to the hardware used in the oil and gas business to bring non-renewable energy resources to market;
• Nickel, in combination with zinc, is being plated onto objects to give them a fashionable and non-reflective black coating that resists both abrasion and corrosion;
• Nickel is providing essential catalytic properties to a process that makes surfactants, a key component of detergents; and
• Nickel is bringing abrasion resistance and hygienic qualities to woven wire mesh, which is used in pharmaceutical screening.

What makes reporting on these applications so gratifying is that so many are supportive of the sustainable development goals society has set for itself.

For example, tests are under way in several countries to determine if renewable energy can be generated reliably from ocean waves. If, as expected, these tests are successful, the full-scale commercial models will be constructed of corrosion-resistant materials such as austenitic stainless steels. Only such materials can provide the long, maintenance-free, reliable operating life required to make renewable energy an important part of our energy supply.

Aesthetically, too, nickel stainless steels enrich our lives. Beautiful objects, both large and small, are being created by artists and designers who choose stainless for its reflective qualities and formability. Consider:

• Anish Kapoor’s 20-metre-long-by-10-metre-high sculpture Cloud Gate, which has been embraced by the city of Chicago; and
• Andrea Forges Davanzati’s many small mobiles and other objets d’art that were inspired by creatures living in the Mediterranean Sea.

In architecture, nickel-containing alloys and stainless steels are helping restore masterpieces of the recent past to their original beauty. Case histories of three such renovations in North America are featured in this issue.

Clearly, the scope of nickel use is vast and ever-growing, and Nickel Magazine is committed to keeping its readers abreast of all the developments under way – or at least as many as we can keep up with! We look forward to doing so in 2008 as well.

Editor

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