Nickel (Ni)

a transition metals
A silvery-white lustrous
metal with a slight golden
tinge
The fifth most abundant
element in the earth
Common in the crust
Atomic number Nickel28
(Ni)

Atomic mass 58.71 g.mol -1

Density 8.9 g.cm-3 at 20°C

Melting point 1453 °C

Boiling point 2913 °C

Discovered by Alex Constedt 1751

 Nickel (Ni)
Applications
 85% of metallic nickel used in combination with other
metals alloys

1. Used in gas turbines and rocket engines

- easy to work and can be drawn into wire
- resist corrosion even at high temperatures

gas turbines rocket engines

 Nickel (Ni)
2. Used for propeller shaft in boats
and desalination plants
- Monel: an alloy of nickel and copper
- Hard, can resist the corrosion by sea water

Monel
3. Used to make stainless steel
- used very widely in the home, in architecture,
- in health care, in food processing and
- throughout industry.

Stainless steel cutlery

 Nickel (Ni)
4. Used to make Nickel-cadmium battery
Small NiCd dry cells are used for portable electronics and toys
rechargeable battery
often using cells manufactured in the same sizes as primary cells

at the cadmium electrode

at the nickel electrode

The net reaction during discharge is

Nickel-cadmium battery
 Nickel (Ni)
5. Use as catalyst
Alkenes can react with hydrogen at high temperature (150
℃) to produce alkanes.
 catalytic hydrogenation
Use to make margarine from animal oils and vegetable oils

6. Used for making nickel steels

added to give increased strength and toughness over
that obtained with the ordinary rolled structural steel
adapted for case-hardening
 Nickel (Ni)
7. Used in nickel-copper alloys and nickel silver
 nickel-copper alloys:
- improves strength and corrosion resistance
- good ductility is retained
- excellent resistance to marine corrosion and
biofouling
 Nickel silver
- used in better-quality keys, making musical
instruments (e.g. cymbals, saxophones), production of
coins.
- marine fittings and plumbing fixtures
for its corrosion resistance, and heating

Nickel silver coins

 Nickel (Ni)
8. Used to make malleable nickel, nickel clad, Inconel
and other superalloys
 Inconel: nickel-chromium-based superalloys
 common in gas turbine blades, seals, and combustors, in the
boilers of waste incinerators etc.

9. Used in plating
 commonly used in engineering coating applications
where wear resistance, hardness and corrosion
protection are required

10. Use for nickel cast irons

 Used in cast iron bridges, buildings, textile mills
 Nickel (Ni)
11. Used in heat and electric resistance alloys e.g.
Nichrome
widely used in electric heating elements,
such as in hair dryers, electric ovens,
soldering iron, toasters, and even
electronic cigarettes

12. Used for nickel brasses and bronzes

it is composed of 70% copper, 24.5% zinc and 5.5% nickel
used to make pound coins in the pound sterling currency
 Nickel (Ni)

Nickel compounds
1. Nickel (II) sulphate
 useful for electroplating nickel

2. Nickel (II) chloride

 produced by dissolving nickel residues in hydrochloric
acid

3. Nickel(III) oxide
 used as the cathode in many rechargeable batteries, e.g.
nickel-cadmium
Occurrence
Two important groups of ores are:

Laterites: oxide or silicate ores such as garnierite, (Ni, Mg) 6

Si4O10 OH)8 which are predominantly found in tropical areas
such as New Caledonia, Cuba and Queensland.
Sulphides: these are ores such as pentlandite, which contain
about 1.5%, nickel associated with copper, cobalt and other
metals. They are predominant in more temperate regions
such as Canada, Russia and South Africa.
 Canada is the world's leading nickel producer and the Sudbury Basin of Ontario contains one of the largest nickel deposits in the
world.
Extraction of Nickel
 In 1899 Ludwig Mond developed a process for extracting and purifying
nickel. The so-called "Mond Process“ involves the conversion of nickel
oxides to pure nickel metal. The oxide is obtained from nickel ores by a
series of treatments including concentration, roasting and smelting of the
minerals.
 In the first step of the process, nickel oxide is reacted with water gas, a mixture of H2 and CO,
at atmospheric pressure and a temperature of 50 °C. The oxide is thus reduced to impure
nickel. Reaction of this impure material with residual carbon monoxide gives the toxic and
volatile compound, nickel tetracarbonyl, Ni(CO)4. This compound decomposes on heating to
about 230 °C to give pure nickel metal and CO, which can then be recycled. The actual
temperatures and pressures used in this process may very slightly from one processing plant to
the next. However the basic process as outlined is common to all.
The process can be summarised as follows:
50°C 230°C
Ni + 4CO → Ni(CO)4 → Ni + 4CO.
(impure) (pure)