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The announcement that the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to the Israeli Prior to the publication of the findings of Prof. Shechtman, of the Israel Institute of Technology, the scientific community staunchly believed atoms in all solid matter were ordered in repeated symmetrical patterns inside crystals. Shechtman found that atoms in rapidly chilled glowing molten metal were in fact arranged in a highly unusual way. His achievement lies not only in the discovery of quasi-crystals, but also in the determination to later convince a sceptical scientific community. When he announced his findings, Shechtman was met with incredulity and even asked to leave his research group. His persistence and stamina eventually persuaded scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter. Due to the initial scepticism met, the publication of his paper, 'Metallic Phase with Long‐Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry', was delayed for more than two years after the original discovery on April 8, 1982. A SWEDISH COMPANY MAKES SIMILAR FINDINGSA decade later, in the early 1990s, Sandvik’s R&D team at the time, consisting of Dr. Ping Liu - Senior Scientist, Dr. Anna Hultin Stigenberg - then PhD student, and Prof. Jan‐Olof Nilsson - Senior Research Expert, made a remarkably similar discovery of their own. They were attemting to find a very strong steel alloy for use in a wide range of products. What they found when they heated this alloy turned out to be quasi-crystals and it was the first time they had appeared in the conventional steel. Liu and Nilsson both met the now‐Nobel laureate. “I was truly pleased to hear the news of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry but not wholly surprised,” says Nilsson. “I admire Dan Schechtman a great deal. He is a brave man that believes in his work. He came to visit us because he is extremely interested in learning how Sandvik uses his discovery of quasicrystals in different applications.”
Today, Sandvik is a world leader in the use of quasicrystals in commercial materials and has a global patent on the steel in which quasi- crystals are used. A close collaboration between shaver manufacturer Philips and Sandvik specialists led to the development of A unique material Sandvik Nanoflex™ is a high‐performance steel alloy specifically designed for applications requiring high strength and good ductility. Sandvik Nanoflex™ has a very high ageing effect, is hardened by heat treatment, easy to weld and does not soften even when exposed to temperatures up to 450°C! Low surface energy and a non‐adhesive surface makes Sandvik Nanoflex™ a potentially useful material for the manufacture of engines and all sorts of moving mechanical parts. WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS |
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