Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 are the high-purity wrought nickels specified for electrical, electronic, magnetostrictive, battery, and precision laboratory applications.
Both grades sit one tier above Nickel 200, 201, and 233 in chemistry control, with composition limits under ASTM F3 designed for use in vacuum tubes, electron device structures, battery electrodes, and other parts where impurity content directly affects performance. EFINEA stocks Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 material in round bar, rod, sheet, strip, and coil, all mill-certified and ready to ship.
For questions about which grade fits your design, our sales engineers and metallurgists are reachable at 800-348-6268.
What Are Nickel 205 and Nickel 270?
Both grades are commercially pure wrought nickels supplied under ASTM F3, the standard specification for nickel alloy strip for electron tubes.
They are positioned in the same product family as Nickel 200 and 201, but with tighter composition control aimed at electronic and battery applications. The two grades differ substantially in chemistry and production method, which drives where each is specified.
Nickel 205 (UNS N02205, ASTM F3 Grade 2)
Nickel 205 is a 99.0% minimum wrought nickel with controlled additions of magnesium (0.01–0.08%) and titanium. These additions scavenge sulfur, improve hot workability, and prevent intergranular embrittlement during high-temperature service.
Compared to Nickel 200, the tighter residual control gives Nickel 205 a higher magnetostrictive coefficient and a higher Curie temperature, which is what makes it the standard grade for vacuum tube components, lead-in wires, electron tube grids, transistor enclosures, and magnetostrictive transducers.
Nickel 205 combines good mechanical properties, low electrical resistivity, and corrosion and oxidation resistance suitable for moderate-temperature electronic service.
Nickel 270 (UNS N02270, ASTM F3 Grade 4)
Nickel 270 is a 99.97% minimum high-purity nickel produced by powder metallurgy and worked into standard wrought forms. The chemistry holds cobalt, magnesium, chromium, titanium, sulfur, silicon, manganese, copper, and other residuals to 0.001% maximum, iron to 0.005%, and carbon to 0.02%.
The resulting matrix is essentially free of non-metallic inclusions and shows a lower coefficient of expansion, lower electrical resistivity, lower Curie temperature, lower base hardness, and substantially greater ductility than other commercially pure nickel grades. These properties make Nickel 270 the grade of choice for hydrogen thyratrons, electrical resistance thermometers, precision deep-drawn parts, and substrates for precious metal cladding.
Nickel 205 & 270 Forms Available from EFINEA
EFINEA stocks both grades in three primary wrought forms: round bar and rod, sheet, and strip and coil. All stock material ships with mill certification traceable to the original mill.
Nickel 205 & 270 Round Bar and Rod
Round bar and rod are used for machined electron tube components, cathode shanks, anode bars, threaded fittings, lead-in wires, and instrument frames.
EFINEA stocks Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 round bar across standard diameters, with custom cut lengths available through in-house saw and waterjet services. As a Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 alloy supplier, EFINEA offers multiple temper conditions and diameters to support prototype and high-volume production work.
Nickel 205 & 270 Sheet
Sheet is the production form for stamped electron tube parts, hermetic housing bodies, battery electrodes, transistor enclosure stock, semiconductor packaging cans, and substrate blanks for precious metal cladding. EFINEA stocks Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 sheet in standard gauges, with custom slitting and shearing available for narrower widths and parts blanks.
Nickel 205 & 270 Strip and Coil
Strip and coil are the production formats for battery tab and electrode stamping, leadframe stock, electrical connectors, and high-volume electronic component manufacturing. EFINEA stocks Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 strip and coil in annealed condition across a range of widths and tempers. Custom slitting for narrow-width strip used in battery, connector, leadframe, and EMI shielding work is handled in-house.
Nickel 205 & 270 Properties and Applications
For full property tables (chemistry, physical and mechanical property data, temperature-dependent thermal and electrical behavior, and specifications) and detailed application coverage across electron devices, battery and energy storage components, magnetostrictive transducers, and precision electronic packaging, see our dedicated Nickel 205 & 270 Properties and Applications page.
The short version: Nickel 205 and Nickel 270 are the electronic-grade pure nickels in the EFINEA inventory. Both grades provide low electrical resistivity, controlled magnetic behavior, inclusion-free chemistry, and the predictability required for vacuum tube, electron device, battery, and precision laboratory work. Common end uses include:
- Anode plates
- Battery plaques
- Cathode shanks
- Electron tube cathodes
- High-temperature electrical leads
- Magnetostrictive devices
- Passive cathodes
- Plater bars
- Semiconductor packaging
- Transistor enclosures
- Hydrogen thyratrons
- Electrical resistance thermometers
- Precious metal cladding substrates
For comparison against the general-industrial commercially pure nickel EFINEA stocks, check out our Nickel 200, 201 & 233 page.
Why Choose EFINEA Metals for Nickel 205 and Nickel 270?
EFINEA has spent more than 60 years building inventory and process knowledge around the electronic-grade nickel alloys that battery, research lab, aerospace defense, and electron device engineers depend on.
- Continuous nickel alloy supply since 1965. Customer programs in vacuum tube, semiconductor, battery, and scientific laboratory work over those years have shaped EFINEA’s current stocking depth, testing protocols, technical support, and cross-reference capability on Nickel 205 and 270.
- Nickel 270 inventory at usable gauges. The 99.97% powder-metallurgy grade is the harder of the two to source on short notice. EFINEA carries 270 sheet, strip, rod, and wire in the dimensions most often called out on electronic and research lab drawings.
- Metallurgist support on grade selection. Our sales engineers flag compatibility concerns before every order ships, preventing a price premium on parts that don’t require a higher-purity grade.
- AS9100D documentation for defense electronics work. Mill certifications shipped with every order cover heat and lot numbers, chemistry, mechanical property data, and any applicable inspection results traceable to the original mill.
- 24-hour shipping from four certified facilities. ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D-certified warehouses in New Jersey and California hold standard 205 and 270 stock for shipment within 24 hours of order confirmation.
- In-house slitting for battery, electrode, leadframe, and EMI shielding work. Custom widths on 205 and 270 strip are processed internally rather than routed through a third-party slitter.
EFINEA serves as a Nickel 205, Nickel 270 distributor and supplier, accepting orders of any size, from research quantities through production runs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nickel 205 and Nickel 270
Specify Nickel 205 when the application calls for a standard wrought electronic-grade nickel with a higher magnetostrictive coefficient and Curie temperature, such as electron tube components, magnetostrictive transducers, lead-in wires, and most cathode parts. Specify Nickel 270 when impurity content directly affects device performance, such as hydrogen thyratrons, electrical resistance thermometers, precision deep-drawn parts where exceptional ductility matters, or substrates for precious metal cladding where contaminant diffusion would compromise the clad layer.
Both grades are ferromagnetic at room temperature. Nickel 205 has a higher Curie temperature than Nickel 200, which is one of the reasons it is specified for magnetostrictive transducers, while Nickel 270’s higher purity gives it a lower Curie temperature than 205. The magnetic behavior matters for instrument enclosures placed near sensitive electronics, parts used in magnetic-field measurement, magnetostrictive device design, and electron-beam equipment shielding. For applications where magnetic permeability is undesirable, a non-magnetic alloy should be considered instead.
Yes, and the high-purity matrix is one of the reasons Nickel 270 is specified for clad substrates in the first place. Because residual elements are held to 0.001% maximum on most contaminants, there is essentially no risk of unwanted species diffusing into the clad layer during processing. Common precious-metal cladding combinations include silver, gold, palladium, and platinum on Nickel 270 substrates for electronic contacts and electrochemical applications.