Galvanizing — past, present and future Available to Purchase

The ability of zinc to inhibit the rusting of steel depends on a natural phenomenon — the electrical reaction between dissimilar metals, first noted by an Italian scientist named Luigi Galvani. A French chemist discovered in 1740 that zinc could protect steel from the effects of rust. However, it would be almost 100 years before the practical problems of coating steel with zinc would be solved. In 1887 Stanislaus Sorel, a French engineer, secured a patent for hot dip galvanizing. It is basically on this method that today's techniques have been developed. Recognizing Galvani's earlier discovery, Sorel called his process Galvanization.