Alloys - Specialities Made at Heraeus
In metallurgy an alloy is a material that has metallic properties and is composed of two or more chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. According to the number of components comprising the particular alloy one refers to a binary alloy, a three- or four- component alloy, or indeed a complex alloy, whereby only those com-ponents are counted, that actually determine the characteristic properties.
The use of metals as a raw material can be improved by adding alloying elements to them in a molten state. This has the desired effect of being able to alter certain mate-rial properties such as hardness or corrosion resistance to suit one’s own purposes.
At Heraeus the following alloys are used in various technology processes:
- Platinum alloys (PtRh, PtNi, PtAg, PtW, PtIr)
- Gold alloys (AuNi, AuAgCu, AuAg, AuAgIn, AuAgNi, AuAgPt, AuPdAg)
- Silver alloys (AgCu, AgNi, AgCd)
- Palladium alloys (PdW, PdCoW, PdCu, PdAg, PdAgCu, PdAgAuPt)
- Copper alloys (CuAgMgP, CuZn, CuZnAlCo, CuSn, CuNiSn, CuNiZn, CuBe, CuFe, CuNiFe, CuNi)
