Nickel (Ni) is a transition metal with a silvery-white metallic appearance. It is mostly concentrated in the earth’s inner and outer core. In the earth’s crust, it is only present to about 0.008 %. Today it is mostly gained from so called lateritic deposits, where rocks are exposed to strong weathering. Another occurrence is in nickel-iron-meteorites, where the nickel content ranges between 5-20 wt.%. These meteoric nickel-iron alloys had already been used over 5000 years ago for the production of tools and weaponry.

The name origin of nickel leads back to German mining. Mineworkers referred to the nickel ore as “Kupfernickel” (copper-nickel), since it looked similar to copper ore, but refused to give away any copper upon processing. They interpreted the ore to be jinxed by a mountain spirit, called “Nickel”.

The probably most famous application of nickel has been passed through many hands: the 5-cent coin in America and Canada – the Nickel.

Nickel is ductile, malleable and ferromagnetic at room temperature. It displays a strong chemical resistance, which is why it is widely used in the chemical industry. For its corrosion resistance it is used as a protection layer from oxidation for metals.

As an alloying element, it makes steel corrosion resistant and improves its hardness, toughness, as well as ductility. In diamond synthesis, nickel acts as a catalyst. In combination with other metals, it is used as cathode material in rechargeable batteries (e.g. nickel-cadmium).