Exactly 100 years have passed since the first patent was registered for anodizing, the electrochemical process that can create a protective layer on aluminum.
This procedure has undergone many improvements over time, but it was in 1923 that Britons Guy Dunstan Bengough and John Mc Arthur Stuart patented chromic acid anodizing, thus taking the first, fundamental step in paving the way for the very wide use of aluminum in construction and many other industries.
Just this year, the Alusteel Coating, Metalcoat and Aleu group, led by President and CEO Matteo Trombetta Cappellani, expanded its reach with Alpine Anodizing, a new highly automated business dedicated to the production of anodized aluminum coils.
“Anodizing is an oxidation process that protects metals,” explains Matteo Trombetta Cappellani. “Applied to aluminum, it greatly increases its resistance to corrosion and wear and ensures that the color does not change over time. It is evident how this material is therefore suitable for many outdoor applications and a wide variety of industries.”
“With this processing, we obtain a product that is extremely resistant to atmospheric agents and used especially within architectural projects, particularly in building facades,” the Bergamo-based entrepreneur continues. “Aluminum stands out as a material that is extremely light, ductile and at the same time durable: this is proven by the fact that more than 75 percent of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today.”
A famous example of this is the Empire State Building, one of the most famous buildings in New York City and the world, built in 1931 with a large proportion of structural and decorative elements made of anodized aluminum.
“The start of Alpine Anodizing’s activity shows how much the Bergamo industrial district and Italy in general are ready to seize the growth opportunities related to the production and processing of aluminum, a material that has in its wide range of applications and infinite reuse potential its winning qualities,” Trombetta Cappellani concludes.
