Archive for the ‘Gold2009’ Category
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August 7th, 2009
What’s happening in gold plating?
I think many people have a (inaccurate) perception that gold electroplating is a technology where there is little room for innovation. At GOLD 2009 last month this myth was dispelled, firstly by the Plenary Keynote talk of Pietro Cavallotti ‘Gold plating – from timeless art to an evergreen technology’ and then a number of technologies were featured that were based on innovations in gold electroplating. One of them was a novel cyanide-free electroless gold plating process for plastic films, initially reported here. We also heard about the production of novel metal-matrix systems that incorporate gold nanoparticles.
Encouraging developments.
At the same time, in terms of the current commercial market, a new study from Freedonia Group has predicted demand for metal finishing chemicals in the US is forecast to grow 2.4 percent per year to $2.2 billion in 2013 and that plating chemicals will continue to account for the majority of metal finishing chemical demand — about 56 percent of the total in 2013. They believe the electronics and electrical equipment market will remain the second largest market after automotive, although growth in this sector will be well-below average as manufacturing of these items continues to move to the Far East. Whilst the trend toward smaller more powerful and sophisticated electronic components will restrain demand in volume terms, Freedonia say growth will be supported by the use of higher-priced finishing chemicals, particularly gold plating solutions.
Looks like gold plating is in good shape after all…..
PS Suppliers of gold plating chemicals can be found in the UtiliseGold business directory here
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July 30th, 2009
Close of GOLD2009
Yesterday bought us to the end of GOLD2009 in Heidelberg. We had another excellent morning session of symposia, with plenary papers from Paul Mulvaney from the University of Melbourne and Graham Hutchings of Cardiff University.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few days, and have been impressed by the sheer range and depth of science on offer. Here at the World Gold Council we would really appreciate your feedback on proceedings – please feel free to comment on any of these blog entires or contact either myself or Richard directly.
Finally, we congratulate the various prize winners and sincerely thank the team in Heidelberg for helping make the event run so smoothly.
Roll on 2012…!
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July 27th, 2009
What’s catching the eye at GOLD2009?
This is an open post for attendees at GOLD 2009 to highlight the most interesting talks and discussions from Heidelberg today (Monday)……Click on comments below to add your own thoughts.
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July 27th, 2009
David Thompson Memorial Lecture
Today at GOLD 2009, the inaugural David Thompson Memorial Lecture was delivered. To mark the sad passing of David Thompson earlier this summer, Jeroen van Bokhoven presented his work ‘Catalytically Active Species in Gold Catalysts’ …it was a fitting talk in honour of a man who was at the forefront of the discussions about the unique activity of gold catalysts.
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July 27th, 2009
Start of Gold 2009
So, after many months of planning and organising, we’ve finally just had the opening of GOLD 2009. The event was officially opened by World Gold Council CEO, Aram Shishmanian and following welcomes from the Organising Committee and the local organisers at the University of Heidelberg, it was straight into three first class general interest talks.
The aim of this first session was to get the attendees, all interested in gold science and the use of this science in practical new uses, to consider the wider gold industry. So, Peter Kondos, from the world’s largest gold producer Barrick Gold provided ‘An Overview of Modern Mining’. Christian Hagelüken, from Umicore then spoke of the growing industry based on ’Recycling of gold from electronics’ before the session ended with Christiane Eluère, from Musee De France, describing ”The earliest story of gold and goldwork in continental Europe’. It was a diverse and fascinating session and following a fine welcoming reception with food and drink, I think most attendees are in great shape for today’s main programme. Can’t wait……
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July 23rd, 2009
Premier Chemicals and 3M in tie-up
Premier Chemicals have just announced a commercial tie up with the 3M corporation which will see Premier Chemicals exclusively distribute 3M’s gold catalyst under the brand name NanAucat™. Both companies will be at Gold 2009 in Heidelberg, Germany next week sharing this news with the commercial and academic community.
3M are, of course, an industry leader in many markets, although many people will not be aware that their biggest product range is from the Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division. This is focused on products to help protect workers from hazardous contaminates and vapours in the workplace. Based in the UK, Premier Chemicals Ltd are less well known but specialise in Gas Purification and Calcium Chloride supply and now as a Gold Catalyst Supplier.
This is further evidence of the growing commercial prospects for gold catalysis…….
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July 22nd, 2009
Getting ready for Gold 2009
Here at Project AuTEK we are gearing up for Gold 2009. We are particularly excited regarding the oral talks, the full list of which may be downloaded at www.gold2009.org. In particular a talk by Dr Gabriel Veith entitled ‘Hydroxyl mediated activity and stability of supported gold catalysts’ sounds interesting. In previous papers and posters Dr Veith has used the PVD catalyst preparation technique to unravel the importance of hydroxyl groups in gold catalyst preparation. These species are required for stable gold CO oxidation catalysts whether prepared by deposition precipitation or PVD.
Also at the conference we invite all attendees to come and pay us a visit on the AuTEK stand to view our services and technologies in the Catalysis, Bio-Medical and Nanotechnology fields.
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July 21st, 2009
5 things I’m particularly looking forward to at GOLD 2009….
GOLD 2009 takes place next week and we are all set for fantastic event, showcasing the latest in gold science and applications. It’s hard to pick out what I am most looking forward to, but here goes……
1. Meeting as many of the 350+ attendees as possible
2. Listening to talks specifically related to the commercialisation of new gold-based technologies
3. Seeing the look of delight on the faces of the students that win the prizes for ‘best talk’ and ‘best poster’
4. Sampling the warmth, hospitality and food/drink of the local region
5. Relaxing after the event (it’s been a lot of hard work organising the conference!)
I hope to see you next week……
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July 20th, 2009
GOLD 2009 Poster timings online
The timings for poster sessions at GOLD2009 in Heidelberg are now online
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July 13th, 2009
Updated GOLD 2009 programme now online
The latest programme for GOLD 2009 in Heidelberg is now online here
Richard Holliday
Trevor Keel
Jason McPherson
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