Nichrome heating element

In 1905, Albert Marsh, a 28-year-old metallurgist in a Chicago laboratory, solved a problem that had stymied inventors for decades: making electricity generate heat safely, reliably, and cheaply. His 80% nickel, 20% chromium alloy became the oldest documented resistance heating alloy and remains dominant 120 years later.

Before nichrome, electric heating was impractical. Any conductive wire generates heat, but most metals conduct efficiently, requiring thin, delicate wires for resistance. When heated in air, most metals oxidize quickly, become brittle, and break. Early electric toasters used bare iron wires that frequently burned out. Platinum wire could withstand heat but cost too much.

Marsh's 80:20 nickel-chromium composition offered resistance 50 times that of copper with a much higher melting point of approximately 1,400°C. The critical insight was chromium's behavior: when heated to red-hot temperatures, nichrome develops an outer chromium oxide layer that is thermodynamically stable in air, mostly impervious to oxygen, protecting the element from further oxidation. This self-healing oxide layer meant the wire could be heated and cooled repeatedly without burning out. "It does not become crystalline and brittle under heating and cooling, it resists oxidation to a remarkable degree."

Marsh patented the alloy in 1906 (US Patent 811,859). Within months, inventors were using nichrome for electric toasters. By 1909, General Electric released its D-12 toaster—the first commercially successful electric toaster. The cascade: hair dryers, space heaters, electric stoves, water heaters, soldering irons, kilns, industrial furnaces to 1,200°C.

When GE began manufacturing the alloy around 1910, Marsh sued for infringement. In 1915, GE was compelled to buy partial interest in the patents, making Marsh wealthy. He was acclaimed "father of the electrical heating industry."

More than a century later, nichrome remains standard in consumer appliances. Alternatives like Kanthal exist for higher temperatures, but nichrome's combination of properties—quick heating, mechanical strength, energy efficiency—maintains its position. Marsh received the Albert Sauveur Achievement Award in 1941.