Uses of Nickel

In a modern high-pressure variant the feed material is a special pretreated matte (with, for example, 77% Ni, 15% Cu, 4% (Coi-Fe) and 4% S). Granules of this matte are treated with CO at temperatures up to 180°C and a pressure of 7 MPa. The nickel carbonyl vapor is decomposed, often on nickel pellets. 

In the oxide-silicate ores nickel is so disseminated within the laterite that conventional ore-dressing methods do not work. The ore is often treated directly in py-rometallurgical processes, high-temperature reduction with carbon. This process yields ferronickd. Laterite ores are also leached with sulfuric acid in a high-tem-perature, high-pressure process. Nickel and cobalt are separated from purified solutions by solvent extraction. 

The greatest field of application for nickel is austenitic stainless steels. This steel type and the influence of nickel are dealt with in Chapter 24 Chromium. Stainless-steel production accounted for more than 60% of the world nickel demand in the year 2000. The chemical industry is a very big consumer of nickel for a multitude of applications, mainly in stainless steels. In our everyday life we also meet nickel-containing, austenitic stainless steels in kitchen sinks, laundry equipment and cutlery, in railway cars and tank trailers. For the oil rigs offshore, with their exceptional corrosion problems, special stainless steels with high molybdenum contents, have been developed. 

the European Monetary Union, decided to use eight denominations of coins, varying in size, color and thickness according to their values 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins and 1 and 2 euro coins. (One euro is divided into 100 cents.) The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins are minted from copper-covered steel, while the 10-, 20- and 50-cent ones are minted from an alloy called Nordic Gold (89% Cu, 5% Al, 5% Zn, 1% Sn). The one- and two-euro coins have inner and outer rings made of nickel-brass and copper alloys. 

The US mint continues to use cupronickel cladding, that had been used earher with few complaints of nickel dermatitis. The subject nickel in coins - past, present and future - has been reviewed by Bill Molloy at the Nickel Development Institute in Canada [31.5] 

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The first reported use of nickel [7440-02-0] Ni, was in a nickel—copper—2inc alloy produced in China in the Middle Ages and perhaps earlier. Alloys of nickel may have been used in prehistoric times. The metal was first isolated for analytical study in the mid-1700s by Axel Cronstedt, who named it nickel, which derives from the German word kupfemickel, or false copper. 

Nickel also is an important iadustrial catalyst. The most extensive use of nickel as a catalyst is ia the food iadustry ia connection with the hydrogenation or dehydrogenation of organic compounds to produce edible fats and oils (see Fats and FATTY oils). 

Plastics Additives. Many claims have been made for the use of nickel chemicals as additives to various resin systems. By far the most important appHcation is as uv-quenchers in polyolefins (173,174). Among the useful nickel complexes in these systems are dibutyldithiocarbamate nickel [13927-77-0], nickel thiobisphenolates, and nickel amide complexes of bisphenol sulfides (175). The nickel complex of... 

Agricultural Chemicals. Many claims exist for the use of nickel chemicals as nematocides, miticides, and other pesticides (qv) (191). 

Yields were improved to >37% by the addition of sodium sulfite to the reaction mixture. Apart from the sulfite, the C -component unit has the greatest influence on the yield of foHc acid. The use of nickel(II) chloride as an additive has been claimed to give higher yields (25). 

Total world production of nickel is in the region of 1.0 million tonnes pa of which (1995) 25% comes from the former Soviet Union, 18% from Canada, 12% from New Caledonia and 10% from Australia. The bulk of this is used in the production of alloys both ferrous and non-ferrous. In 1889 J. Riley of Glasgow published a report on the effect of adding nickel to steel. This was noticed by the US Navy who initiated the use of nickel steels in armour plating. Stainless steels contain up to 8% Ni and the use of Alnico steel for permanent magnets has already been mentioned (p. 1114). 

Highly stereospecific hydrogenations of acetylenes to cis olefins have been achieved also with nickel (P 2) catalysts in the presence of ethylenediamine as prorrtoter (37 8 55 58,72). The catalyst is prepared by reduction of nickel acetate in ethanol with sodium borohydridefi ). Despite successes (44), the use of nickel is relatively infrequent (51). 

In many aqueous solutions nickel has the ability to become passive over a wide range of pH values. The mechanism of passivation of nickel and the properties of passive nickel have been studied extensively—perhaps more widely than for any other element, except possibly iron. In recent years the use of optical and surface analytical techniques has done much to clarify the situation . Early studies on the passivation of nickel were stimulated by the use of nickel anodes in alkaline batteries and in consequence were conducted in the main in alkaline media. More recently, however, attention has been directed to the passivation of nickel in acidic and neutral as well as alkaline solutions. 

Decorative coatings It is impossible to give a comprehensive list of the uses of nickel coatings but applications of decorative nickel coatings, usually with a chromium top-coat, are given below ... 

Watson, S. A., Engineering Uses of Nickel Deposits , Electroplating and Metal Finishing, May (1972)... 

Pocket and tubular electrodes have been described in detail by Falk and Salkind [1]. McBreen has reviewed work on both sintered plate and plastic-bonded electrode technology [9], More recent work is on the use of nickel foams and nickel mats. 

Functionalized polyethylene would be of great industrial importance, and if synthetic methods to control the microstructure of functionalized polymers using transition-metal-based catalysis are developed, it would significantly broaden the utility and range of properties of this class of polymers. Recent progress in the field of late transition metal chemistry, such as Brookliart s use of nickel-based diimine catalysts, has enabled the copolymerization of ethylene with functional a-olefins.29 However, these systems incorporate functionalized olefins randomly and with limited quantity (mol percent) into the polymer backbone. 

Archaea Special membrane lipids, coenzymes and uses of nickel (several specialist types see under bacteria) Extremophiles of various kinds. Use of sulfate and limited use of light and 02... 

This review is an attempt to rationalize the main reaction patterns observed so far in organonickel chemistry. Synthetic work in organic chemistry has found an exceedingly valuable tool in the use of nickel complexes. The reason for this lies in the fact that nickel possesses a very favorable combination of properties to meet the requirement for an organic reaction to take place via coordination. Let us consider, for example, which basic steps occur when organic ligands react on a transition metal to form C—C bonds. 

In 1973, global consumption of nickel was 660,000 tons and that of the United States 235,000 tons (Sevin 1980). End uses of nickel in the United States in 1973 were transportation (21%), chemicals (15%), electrical goods (13%), fabricated metal products (10%), petroleum (9%), construction (9%), machinery (7%), and household appliances (7% IARC 1976). A similar pattern was evident for 1985 (Table 6.3). In 1988, 40% of all nickel intermediate products consumed was in the production of steel 21% was in alloys, 17% in electroplating, and 12% in super alloys (USPHS 1993). The pattern for 1985 was similar (Table 6.3). In Canada, nickel is the fourth most important mineral commodity behind copper, zinc, and gold. In 1990, Canada produced 197,000 tons of nickel worth 2.02 billion dollars and was the second largest global producer of that metal (Chau and Kulikovsky-Cordeiro 1995). Most of the nickel used in the United States is imported from Canada and secondarily from Australia and New Caledonia (USPHS 1977). 

Duke, J.M. 1980. Production and uses of nickel. Pages 51-65 in J.O. Nriagu (ed.). Nickel in the Environment. John Wiley, NY. 

The dimples enable the maximum use of nickel (a good conductor of electricity) and the minimum use of titanium (a poor conductor of electricity). This is most easily seen by referring to Fig 18.5. The arrangement reduces appreciably the resistance of the current path between the cathode and the anode of adjacent modules. 

A clear advantage of alkaline electrolysers is the use of nickel-based electrodes, thus avoiding the use of precious metals. Catalytic research is aimed at the development of more active anodes and cathodes, primarily the development of high surface area, stable structures. Nickel-cobalt spinel electrodes for oxygen evolution and high surface area nickel and nickel cobalt electrodes for hydrogen evolution have been shown at the laboratory scale to lead to a decrease in electrolyzer cell voltage [47]. More active electrodes can lead to more compact electrolysers with lower overall systems cost. 

As, for the most part, the corresponding ester derivatives are a more important synthetic target, recent literature has demonstrated methods to prepare the esters directly. Examples include the use of nickel carbonyl in a methanol/dimethylformamide solvent system(37) the direct conversion of benzyl alcohol to methylphenyl-acetate using cobalt carbonyl(38) and a reaction system which utilizes an ammonium salt bound to an organic polymer(39). 

The nickel—zinc (NiZn) system is attractive as a secondary cell because of its high energy density and low material cost and the low level of potential pollutants contained. The widespread use of nickel-zinc batteries, particularly as electric vehicle power sources, would be strongly enhanced by significantly extending the deep-discharge cycle life beyond the current level of 100—300 cycles. Considerable work has been done in the past to develop a suitable separator for nickel— and silver—zinc batteries. 272 An excellent discussion of separator development is contained in a comprehensive review. 2 ... 

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