Nickel has a wide range of applications in our daily lives, such as in the manufacture of coins and the production of alloys. Today, let's take a closer look at this metal – nickel.
Nickel is located in Group VIII of the periodic table, along with iron, cobalt, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum, forming Group VIII. Among them, iron, cobalt and nickel are called “iron group elements”.
I. The discovery and nomenclature of nickel
Humanity has known and used nickel for a long time. Nickel was first used in China as early as the 3rd century BC, when Chinese people added nickel ore to copper to make an alloy – white copper, used to cast coins.
In the late 17th century, German miners discovered a reddish-brown ore that often had green specks on its surface. When added to raw materials to make glass, it can dye glass green. At that time, this mineral was confused with copper ore, and metallurgists tried several times to extract copper from it, but all attempts failed.
The miners called it “Kupfernickel,” with Kupfer meaning copper in German, and nickel meaning a deceiving goblin, so Kupfernickel could be translated as “fake copper.”
It was only in 1751 that the Swedish mineralogist and chemist Cronstedt AF (1722-1765) studied this mineral. After several experiments, he isolated a white metal from Kupfernickel and called it Nickel.
This is also the origin of nickel's Latin name, Niccolum. We transliterated the first syllable to “nickel”, with the chemical symbol Ni. We now know that Kupfernickel is a nickel arsenide ore and the green spots on its surface are nickel carbonate.
In the April 1943 edition of the American “Journal of Chemical Education”, an article from the International Nickel Company was published, entitled “The Mysterious Paktong”, excerpted as follows:
“Three hundred years ago, one day, a huge merchant ship, buffeted by storms and slowly approaching the River Thames towards the dock, was returning home! A year ago, he left London in search of the Far East. Now he has returned, carrying goods such as tea, silk and spices.
Furthermore, there was a new item, made of metal, that shined with the soft luster of pure silver, but it was definitely not silver, it was a hard metal. The Chinese called it Paktong and carefully guarded the secret of how to do it.
After the spread of this strange metal, generations of European metalworkers tried to imitate white copper, but never found the reason for each failure. It was not until the mid-18th century that a Swedish scientist identified a new metal, recognized by another scientist, as the mysterious alloy metal for the production of white copper. It is the metal that the miners of Saxony discovered and cursed as fake copper.
II. Nickel distribution, presence and content
Nickel is not scarce in the Earth's crust, being more abundant than common metals such as lead and tin, but significantly less than iron. Cobalt and nickel frequently coexist in nature, with cobaltite (CoAsS) and nickel pyrite (NiS·FeS) being important cobalt and nickel ores.
In nature, the most important nickel ores are garnierite (nickel arsenide) and nickel arsenide (sulfarsenide). Cuba is the most famous country in the world in terms of nickel ore deposits, with large quantities of nickel ore also found in the Dominican Republic.
The nickel content in the sun is 80 ppm, in sea water it is 0.0001 ppm and in the earth's crust it is 80 ppm. Nickel is also one of the essential elements for organisms, but its content in organisms is very small, less than one ten thousandth, known as a trace element. Foods rich in nickel include: chocolate, nuts, dried beans and grains.
III. Nickel Isotopes
There are many nickel isotopes, with different properties. Here is a list of them:
| Isotopes | Abundance | Half life | Decay mode | Decay energy/eV | Decomposition products |
| 56 No | Artificial | 6,077天 | Electron capture | 2,136 | 56 Co |
| 58 No | 68.077% | Stable | |||
| 59 No | Artificial | 76,000年 | Electron capture | 1,072 | 59 Co |
| 60 No | 26.233% | Stable | |||
| 61 No | 1.14% | Stable | |||
| 62 No | 3.634% | Stable | |||
| 63 No | Artificial | 100.1° | Beta decay | 2,137 | 63 Ass |
| 64 No | 0.926% | Stable |
4. The Structure and Properties of Elements
1. Structure:
The unit cell is a face-centered cubic cell containing 4 metal atoms per cell.
Network parameters:
- a = 352h4
- b = 352h4
- C=352.4h
- α=90°
- β=90°
- Y=90°
- Mohs hardness: 4
- External electronic configuration: 3d 8 4s 2
- Electronic configuration outside the nucleus: 2,8,16,2
2. Physical properties:
(1) Metal approximately silvery white;
- Density: 8,902g/cm 3
- Melting point: 1453.0 ℃
- Boiling point: 2732.0 ℃
- Atomic volume: 6.59 cm 3 /mol
- Relative atomic mass: 58.69
(2) Hard and ductile;
(3) Ferromagnetic:
(4) Highly polished and corrosion resistant:
(5) Conductive and thermally conductive.
3. Chemical properties
(1) At room temperature, nickel forms a dense oxide film on its surface in humid air, which not only prevents further oxidation, but also resists corrosion by alkali and saline solutions;
(2) Bulk nickel does not burn, fine nickel wire may burn, and specially made fine porous nickel particles will burn white in air;
(3) When heated, nickel reacts violently with oxygen, sulfur, chlorine and bromine;
(4) Fine powdered nickel can absorb a considerable amount of hydrogen when heated;
(5) Nickel dissolves slowly in dilute hydrochloric acid, dilute sulfuric acid and dilute nitric acid, but its surface is passivated in fuming nitric acid. It turns green after being dissolved in nitric acid.
V. Nickel preparation
1. Electrolysis method.
Roast sulfide ore enriched in oxides, reduce it to raw nickel with carbon, and then obtain pure nickel metal through electrolysis.
2. Carbonylation method.
React nickel sulfide ore with carbon monoxide to produce nickel tetracarbonyl, which decomposes when heated to produce very pure nickel metal.
3. Hydrogen reduction method.
Nickel metal can be obtained by reducing nickel oxide with hydrogen.
The ten main nickel producing countries in the world (annual production: thousand tons)
| Name of the country | 1977 | 1982 | 1987 | 1992 |
| Russia | 144.3 | 165.2 | 272.0 | 215.0 |
| Canada | 235.4 | 88.6 | 189.0 | 192.1 |
| New Caledonia | 109.1 | 60.1 | 56.9 | 113.1 |
| Indonesia | 14.0 | 45.9 | 57.8 | 78.1 |
| Australia | 85.8 | 87.6 | 74.6 | 64.0 |
| China | – | 12.0 | 25.0 | 37.0 |
| Cuba | 37.0 | 36.1 | 33.8 | 32.2 |
| South Africa | 23.0 | 22.0 | 34.3 | 28.4 |
| Dominican Republic | 24.2 | 5.4 | 32.5 | 25.0 |
| Botswana | 12.1 | 17.8 | 25.9 | 23.5 |
| Subtotal of ten countries | 685.0 | 540.6 | 801.8 | 808.4 |
| Global total | 772.8 | 621.6 | 892.5 | 921.9 |
SAW. Uses of Nickel
1. Widely used in alloy manufacturing
Adding nickel to steel can improve its mechanical strength. For example, when the nickel content in steel increases from 2.94% to 7.04%, the tensile strength increases from 52.2 kg/mm 2 to 72.8 kg/mm 3 . Nickel steel is used to manufacture machine parts that withstand high pressure, withstand impacts and alternative loads, such as turbine blades, crankshafts, connecting rods, etc.
Nickel steel containing 36% nickel and 0.3-0.5% carbon has a very small coefficient of expansion, almost no thermal expansion or contraction, and is used to manufacture various precision machinery, accurate gauges, etc. High nickel steel containing 46% nickel and 0.15% carbon is called “Invar” because its expansion coefficient is similar to that of platinum and glass. This type of steel with a high nickel content can be welded to glass.
It is very important in the production of lamps and can be used as a substitute for platinum wire. Some precision lens frames are also made from this Invar steel, preventing the lens from falling out of the frame due to thermal expansion and contraction. An alloy composed of 67.5% nickel, 16% iron, 15% chromium and 1.5% manganese has high electrical resistance and is used in the manufacture of various resistors and electrical heaters.
2. Nickel-titanium alloys have “memory” capabilities
Nickel-titanium alloys have “memory” capabilities and, in addition, a very strong memory, accurately returning to their original shape after being deformed millions of times over a considerable period of time. This “memory” ability serves to remember its original shape, which is why it is called “shape memory alloy”.
Originally, this alloy has a characteristic transformation temperature. Above this transformation temperature, it has one type of crystalline structure and, below it, another type of crystalline structure. Different structures result in different properties.
For example, a nickel-titanium memory alloy is very hard and strong above its transformation temperature, but below this temperature it becomes very soft and easy to cold work. So, when we need to remember a certain way, we shape it accordingly. This is your form of “permanent memory”. Below the transformation temperature, as it is very soft, we can deform it considerably as desired.
And when it needs to return to its original shape, simply heat it above the transformation temperature. Nickel-titanium shape memory alloys are widely used in the medical field, such as in blood clot filters, spinal correction rods, orthodontic arches, brain aneurysm clips, bone plates, artificial joints, femoral head caps, cardiac muscles artificial and miniature pumps for artificial kidneys.
3. Manufacturing of electromagnetic cranes
Nickel is magnetic and can be attracted to magnets. Alloys made of aluminum, cobalt and nickel have even stronger magnetism. When such an alloy is attracted to an electromagnet, it will not only be pulled, but it will also be able to support something sixty times its weight without falling. Therefore, it can be used to manufacture electromagnetic cranes.
4. Used in manufacturing stainless steel
Nickel is most often used in stainless steel, which can resist corrosion from atmosphere, steam and water, as well as acid, alkali and saline corrosion. Therefore, stainless steel is widely used in chemical, metallurgical, construction and various civil applications such as in the manufacture of containers, towers, tanks, pipelines, etc., which require welding in industries such as petrochemical, textile, light industry, nuclear . energy; and in urea production, synthetic towers, washing towers, condensing towers, steam extraction towers and other corrosion-resistant high-pressure equipment.
5. Used for nickel plating
Nickel is also used for nickel plating, covering steel and other metal substrates with a durable, corrosion-resistant surface layer that is 20% to 25% more resistant to corrosion than galvanized layers.
6. Used as a catalyst and in dyes.
VII. Important Nickel Compounds
The main oxidation states of nickel are +2, in addition to -1, 0, +1, +3, +4, +6, etc., allowing nickel to form a variety of compounds. Here, nickel oxide, nickel sulfate, high nickel hydroxide and nickel complexes are introduced.
1. Nickel oxide
- Appearance and properties: green powder.
- Relative density (water = 1): 6.6-6.8
- Solubility: Insoluble in water, insoluble in alkali, soluble in acid, etc. Soluble in acidic water and ammonia, hot perchloric acid, hot sulfuric acid.
- Main uses: Used as pigments in ceramics and glass. In the enamel industry, it is used as an adhesive and colorant for porcelain enamels. In the ceramic industry, it is used as a raw material for pigments. In the production of magnetic materials, it is used as a raw material for nickel-zinc ferrite. In the glass industry, it is used as a colorant for tea-colored glass and glass casings for cathode ray tubes. It is also a raw material for the manufacture of nickel salts and nickel catalysts.
2. Nickel sulfate
- Appearance and properties: Green crystals, orthorhombic crystal system.
- Boiling point (C): 840 (anhydrous)
- Relative density (water=1): 2.07
- Solubility: Soluble in water, soluble in ethanol, slightly soluble in acid, ammonia water.
- Main uses: Mainly used in the electroplating industry and in the manufacture of nickel-cadmium batteries and other nickel salts, also used in organic synthesis and in the production of drying oils as a paint catalyst.
3. Nickel hydroxide
- Appearance and characteristics: black powder.
- Solubility: insoluble in water and alkaline solution. Soluble in acidic and ammoniacal water.
- Uses: used to make alkaline batteries, etc.
- Preparation: obtained by oxidizing nickel hydroxide with hypochlorite.
- Others: decomposes at the melting point.
4. Nickel complexes
Because nickel has d orbitals that can accommodate lone pairs of electrons, it can form complexes. The main types of nickel complexes are as follows:
- Amine coordination compound: (Ni (NH 3 ) 6 ) 2+
- Cyanide coordination compound: (Ni (CN) 4 ) 2-
- Chelate: (Ni(en) 3 ) 2+
- Carbonyl coordination compounds: (a) Ni (CO) 4 (b) (C 2 H 5 ) 2 No
