nickel

Chemistry

2022

We explain what nickel is, how it was discovered, how it is obtained, used and other properties. Also, nickel allergy.

Nickel is a metallic element with atomic number 28.

What is nickel?

Nickel is a chemical element metal, located in group 10 of the Periodic table and represented by the symbol Neither. His atomic number is 28 and is part of the so-called "transition metals", such as zinc, cadmium or mercury.

With him copper, It's one of the metals best known and used by the humanity throughout your history. Nickel has five isotopes in the nature, and it is the lightest (58Ni) and also the most abundant (68%), and eighteen radioactive isotopes, of which 59Ni is the one with the longest half-life (76,000 years). The half-life is the time required for half a sample of radioactive nuclei to decay.

Its name goes back to the German word Kupfernickel (whose origins are debated), which means "false copper." Some explanations attribute it to the nickname that the miners gave to the devil ("old Nick" or Nikolaus), since they assumed that nickel, similar in appearance to copper, was a form of deceit to the greedy.

Nickel Discovery

Nickel has been used since ancient times, both in the East and in the West.

Nickel was known to mankind from the 4th century BC. C. It is known that its discovery was simultaneous to that of copper, since it is frequently found in the minerals in which the latter metal abounds.

For example, it was used in the old Mesopotamia (Syria) where bronzes were found with levels higher than 2% of nickel content. Many ancient Chinese manuscripts suggest that the "white copper" used in the Orient between 1700 and 1400 BC. C. was actually not but nickel.

Nickel Importance

Nickel was long despised, dubbed "fake copper" and regarded as a useless or unprofitable metal. Today that has changed. Although it is certainly not a precious metal, it is one of the most demanded in the world. industry for the manufacture of coins and as a material for alloys with iron, silver and other metals.

In addition, it is essential for the metabolism microbial, since 87% of hydrogenases, enzymes dedicated to oxidation of hydrogen in microbes, contain high percentages of nickel as an active component.

Obtaining nickel

The economy of New Caledonia is based mainly on the exploitation of Nickel.

Nickel is the second most abundant metal in the Earth (iron is the first). In fact, the core of our planet has very pure levels of both metals.

It is frequently found within certain meteorites, alloyed with iron and forming the minerals kamacite and taenite. In addition, in combination with other metals it can be found in the minerals garnierite, millerite, pentlandite, nickelin and pyrrhotite.

The main nickel mines in the world are in Canada, Cuba and Russia, countries that satisfy 70% of the demand world of this metal. Other important producers are Bolivia, Colombia, New Caledonia and the Dominican Republic.

Nickel Properties

Nickel has a typical yellowish-white color, capable of being confused with copper (as was the case in the past). Many of its properties are similar to those of iron, a metal with which it shares an enormous density, as well as with osmium and iridium.

He is a good conductor of the electricity and from heat, ferromagnetic to temperature environment. Because it is extremely ductile and malleable, it is easily rolled, polished and forged.

Its usual oxidation state is +2, although it has also been seen in other states (0, +1 and +3), and it is generally resistant to corrosion, without suffering the so-called "galleo" effect. At the same time, it is carcinogenic and highly toxic.

Nickel uses

Nickel is widely used to form alloys, such as stainless steel.

Nickel is widely used in metallurgy, in alloys of iron, silver and other metals, which it protects against corrosion. Thus, stainless steel is obtained, among other superalloys, such as copper-nickel (“monel”), nickel-titanium (“nitinol-55”), nickel-iron (“mu-metal”) and alnico (aluminum alloy- nickel-cobalt) from which the magnets.

It is also widely used in the manufacture of coins, and it is so common that in the United States the term is used nickel to refer to the smallest and least valuable coin.

It is also used in watchmaking and, in jewelry, it is a component of the so-called “white gold”. However, the use of nickel plating is inadvisable given the high level of toxicity of the metal. It is part of the manufacture of batteries rechargeable. In addition, it is a common catalyst element in different chemical reactions.

Nickel allergy

Nickel is a toxic and carcinogenic metal, especially its fumes and nickel sulfate, as well as nickel carbonyl (Ni (CO) 4), a common but extremely toxic gas. Likewise, there are many people sensitive to nickel in a state of purity, capable of manifesting allergies on contact.

For this reason, the levels of this metal present in objects destined to come into contact with human skin are usually regulated nationally and internationally. 0.05 mg / cm3 is considered the maximum level of nickel to which a person for eight hours a day and forty a week without suffering serious risks to your Health.

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