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Application areas of Gold
Gold has become a material of choice in many modern
applications and plays a crucial role in
the development of industrial and economic activity in Europe
as well as in other parts of the
world. Gold, like many other metals, has become an integral
part of our everyday life but is not
always recognized as such. Metals and metal compounds remain
one of the basic material inputs
for industrial production processes and everyday products. Despite
newly developed synthetic
materials, the application and consumption of metals have increased
steadily over the decades
and, in many cases, still increase today.
Gold is a vital material, which ensures the reliability of many
products ranging from dentistry to
aircraft engines. From the earliest times when gold was mainly
used in jewellery, gold’s great
virtues and exceptional properties have made possible a wide
range of uses in many industrial
areas such as electronics, medicine, space exploration, etc.
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Gold
in Electronics
The second place in gold applications is taken by electro-
nics, for which some 150 tons are used each year. Gold
is
an excellent conductor of electricity and heat reflector.
It
is therefore widely used in electronics and telecommunica-
tions, and is present in everyday objects such as pocket
calculators, mobile phones, or computers and in more
complex equipment like space machinery, aircrafts and
missiles. The most significant uses of gold in electronics
include:
- Gold base finishes on contacts and connectors
- Gold bonding wires in semiconductor devices
- Thick and thin film gold plate applications
- Sputtered gold metallization
- Gold based solder alloys
- Solderable gold based coatings for printed circuit boards
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Gold
in Medicine
The fantastic virtues of gold inspired ancient generations
in their medical reflections. Our ancestors believed that
gold had healing powers. In modern times the magic
metal is at the heart of scientific and medical research.
For the same biological reason for which gold was used
in dentistry, its use seems to be appropriate for a large
number of other direct medical applications. Gold
compounds have already proven their efficiency in some
cancer treatments as well as in the treatment of arthritis,
rheumatism and inflammations. Other medical applica-
tions include gold wires for pacemakers, implants,
patches, ampoules, etc. |
Gold in Dentistry
Gold in dental use is highly appreciated for its properties
of non-oxidation, non-corrosion, non-
toxicity, non-allergenicity and bio-compatibility. Gold has
been used in this type of application for
about 2700 years and gold’s usage is still widespread
in modern dentistry. Gold is used for inlays,
crowns and bridges and is usually utilized as an alloy with
other precious metals. The quantity used
will depend on the application and gold is never harmful for
human safety. Japan remains the
leading dental gold fabricator, followed by Germany and the
United States. However, demand in
this area is declining, with gold being substituted by cheaper
non-gold alloys and ceramics.
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Gold
in Jewellery
Today, gold’s main market is still the jewellery
sector,
which uses about two thousand tons of gold per annum.
Unfortunately mass production methods have progres-
sively surpassed traditional manual craft skills, leaving
a long tradition and venerated profes-sion behind. To
produce colour shades and improve the metal’s resistance
to wear gold alloys are used. From the deep yellow of
pure,
gold, colour shades ranging from green to purple can be
produced by alloying. |
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