Nickel has been found in metal artifacts dating back more than 2,000 years. The element nickel was first discovered and isolated in 1751 by the Swedish mineralogist A. Klonsjet. By the 19th century, nickel was well known for its use in electroplating and alloys such as "nickel silver" (German silver: nickel combined with copper and zinc). This alloy gets its name from its color, but actually contains no silver at all!

The name nickel is derived from the Saxon word "Kupfernickel", meaning "fake copper", because miners in the 15th century believed that the brownish-red ore looked like copper, but was very difficult to mine and believed it to be toxic to the body (actually The poisonous thing is arsenic).

In 1857, the United States first used nickel-copper alloy in coinage. The "nickel" is not pure nickel. It was not until 1881 that pure nickel was used for coinage in Switzerland. Stainless steel was discovered in the early 20th century, and nickel played a very beneficial role in many common grades of stainless steel - and still does today. Nickel-based alloys were found to have excellent resistance to corrosion and high temperatures, so they are often used in chemical plants and also enable jet engines. As a result of these developments, demand for nickel grew rapidly during the 20th century and continues to do so today.

As the fifth most abundant natural element on Earth, nickel is necessary for the life of some plants. Nickel can be found in meteorites, deep in the Earth, and in near-surface ores. The natural abundance of nickel in the environment varies significantly with geographical location. Nickel is a component of plant foods. Crops are rich in nickel, so it appears in the foods we eat every day, especially beans, peas, lentils, cocoa products (chocolate) and oats. We consume 150-300 micrograms of nickel every day.

01 Metal Nickel

Nickel is a shiny, silver-white natural metallic element. Nickel is the fifth most abundant element on Earth and is widely found in the Earth's crust. But most of the nickel is found in the Earth's core, which is out of reach.

Main characteristics of metallic nickel

High melting point (1453℃)

Corrosion-resistant, oxidation-resistant, catalytic

Extremely high ductility

Easily cast into alloy

Magnetic at room temperature

Can be deposited by electroplating

Due to these properties, nickel is used in more than 300,000 products in the consumer, industrial, military, transportation, aerospace, marine and construction fields. The main use is in casting alloys - especially with chromium and other metals to produce stainless steel and heat-resistant steel. These steels are used to make cookware, dishwashing sinks and more, as well as in buildings, food processing equipment, medical devices and chemical plants.

About 65% of nickel production is used to produce stainless steel. Another 20% of production is used in other steel alloys and non-ferrous metal alloys - often in highly specialized industrial, aerospace and military applications. About 9% of production is used for electroplating, and 6% is used for other purposes, including coinage, electronic devices and batteries for portable devices and hybrid cars. In these applications, nickel cannot be replaced with other materials without reducing performance or increasing cost.

Nickel is essential for maintaining plant health. As such, it is found naturally in most vegetables, fruits and nuts, as well as in foods produced from them – such as chocolate and wine.

02 Nickel production

Nickel occurs naturally primarily in the form of oxides, sulfides, and silicates. Nickel ore is mined in 23 countries and smelted or refined in 25 countries. The main producing countries are Russia, Canada, New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Cuba, China, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Botswana, Colombia, Greece and Brazil. Norway, Finland, France, Japan and the UK also have large nickel refineries. Raw nickel is produced and used in the form of iron-nickel alloys, nickel oxide, and other chemicals, and in similar amounts as pure metallic nickel. Nickel is easily recycled from many applications, and there are large amounts of secondary or “scrap” nickel used to supplement newly mined nickel.

The annual production and use of new or primary nickel in the world is only about 1.4 million tons, while the annual production and use of copper is 10 million tons, and the annual production and use of steel is close to 800 million tons. There are many different kinds of nickel ores, and there are many ways to extract nickel and other metals from these ores.

03 Why choose nickel

Nickel-containing materials play an important role in our daily lives - food preparation equipment, mobile phones, medical devices, transportation, buildings, power generation... Nickel-containing materials are chosen because they have better resistance compared to other materials. Corrosion resistance, toughness, high and low temperature strength and a variety of special magnetic and electronic properties. The most important nickel-containing materials are iron, nickel and chromium alloys, of which stainless steel (generally 8%-12% nickel content) is the largest. Nickel-based alloys - such as stainless steel with higher nickel content, are used where standards are stricter (gas turbines and some chemical plants). In addition, iron-nickel alloys are used in electronic devices and professional engineering; copper-nickel alloys are used in coinage and ship engineering. There are approximately 3,000 nickel-containing alloys in daily use. About 90% of new nickel is purchased each year to produce alloys, and two-thirds of this is used to produce stainless steel.

Metallic nickel is made into wear-resistant decorative coatings and engineering coatings in the form of "nickel plating" or "electroless nickel plating" or "electroforming". When metallic nickel is used with a chromium surface layer, it is generally called "chromium plating". If combined with silicon carbide, it is called "composite plating". Nickel is a key component in a number of rechargeable battery systems used in electronics, power tools, transportation and emergency power supplies, the most important today being nickel metal hydride batteries (NiMH).

Nickel is also a major component of many catalysts that increase the efficiency of chemical reactions.

Nickel usage is growing at about 4% per year, while the use of nickel-containing stainless steel is growing at about 6% per year. The countries where usage is currently growing fastest are those that are just beginning to industrialize rapidly, especially those in Asia. In these countries, nickel-containing materials are used to renovate infrastructure and meet industrial and daily material needs. Most nickel-containing products have a long service life, with the average service life being about 25-35 years. Nickel-containing products often provide the best solution to real problems, with lower total costs and more efficient use of resources (including energy). At the end of their useful life, nickel-containing products can be recovered and recycled for future use and can be reused. Nickel is one of the most recycled materials in the world and is primarily recovered and recycled in the form of alloys. About half of the nickel in stainless steel products comes from recycling and recycling.

Nickel has great economic and strategic value to many countries, as evidenced by the high diversity of associated end-use industries. Nickel is traded on the London Metal Exchange. International Nickel Research Organization, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, is an intergovernmental organization responsible for publishing monthly nickel supply and demand statistics and a forum for the exchange of information and views on the nickel industry.

Nickel and nickel compounds may be associated with toxicity, carcinogenicity and skin sensitization under certain circumstances. Most of the real risks associated with nickel hazards occur in certain complex processes used in nickel production and refining. These risks are well understood and managed through specific workplace controls. In the opinion of industry insiders, the use of nickel, nickel-containing alloys or nickel-containing products generally does not pose significant risks, except for the use of nickel and certain nickel alloys in jewelry. The use of nickel plays a practical role in improving health, safety and environmental protection.