Abstract
WITH the ever-growing demand for materials possessing new and more varied combinations of properties, it is seldom that any one of the commoner metals has all the properties desired for special applications. Suitable mechanical strength may be offset by susceptibility to corrosion, suitable density by insufficient hardness, amenability to mechanical processing by unsatisfactory appearance. The use of alloys of two or more metals affords one important method of escape from these limitations, especially since a small addition of an alloying element often produces profound alterations of properties. On the other hand, since it is frequently only the surface properties which particularly need modification, an alternative method is to cover the surface with a suitable coating. Thus, the metal may be coated with various enamels, paints, or lacquers; or with a thin layer of a different metal which may be applied by direct immersion in the molten metal—as in the production of tin-plate or galvanized iron—by electrodeposition from a solution of a salt of the metal, or by other means.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Developments in Electroplating. Nature 138, 707–709 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138707a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138707a0