All About Nickel: History, Invention, Some Vital Applications, Characteristics & Significance

For several thousands of years, men have used nickel in many of their needs. Previously, they weren't conscious of the chemical characteristics of the element and which they could use nickel alloys in various purposes also.

What is nickel?

Nickel is a versatile metal, a chemical component, with an atomic number of 28 and chemical symbol Ni. It's shiny and often silvery-white in look. It is a ferromagnetic component which can exist in normal temperature. There are just 3 other components that have the same characteristic: gadolinium, iron and cobalt.

How was nickel discovered?

It is thought that man has used nickel since 3500 BC. But, it was only in 1751 that it was classified and recognized as a chemical component by Swedish chemist & mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt who, for the first time, thought it was a copper mineral. Since then, essential nickel ore minerals are discovered, such as limonite, pentlandite and garnierite.

What are the characteristics of nickel?

The characteristics of nickel are divided into atomic, physical, isotopes, and chemical. Its atomic characteristics include its electronic configuration, electron structure, and other electron-related stuff.

Its physical characteristics include its color (that's silvery-white), magnetic abilities (like what was mentioned before, it is among the four elements which have magnetic abilities at room temperature, but is non-magnetic when open in temperature more than that), and unit cell structure (nickel has a face centered cubic unit cell). It's also ductile and tough.

Nickel has 5 stable isotopes, each of them has an unique set of properties and characteristics. And when we speak of nickel's chemical properties, it takes place in many oxidation states. The commonest among them all is +2.

Where is nickel used?

Plenty of industries now use nickel in their operations. Some of the products which use nickel are rechargeable batteries, stainless steel, coinage, electric guitar strings, magnets, nickel alloys and any other sorts of alloys, together with bronze, copper, lead, silver, gold, cobalt, aluminum and chromium. It's also used to make nickel cast irons and nickel steels.

Nickel alloys are normally used in power plants, gas and oil plants, and any other processing factories. They are excellent at corrosion resistance and heat regulation. They are also used in nuclear reactors and solar engineering. In our home, nickel alloys are found in our electric heaters, cookers and other domestic device.

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