What is nickel?
Nickel (symbol Ni) is element 28 on the periodic table, a transition metal in period 4, group 10. Tough, corrosion-resistant and magnetic — and the second-biggest ingredient in stainless steel. At room temperature it is a solid.
The story
What nickel is, and how we found it
Nickel is the tough, corrosion-resistant metal that keeps the modern world running smoothly. This silvery-white transition metal is so durable and versatile that it's used in everything from the coins in your pocket to the stainless steel in nuclear reactors. Named after "kupfernickel" (Old Nick's copper) by frustrated German miners who couldn't extract copper from nickel-containing ores, this element has become central for modern technology. Discovered in 1751 by Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, nickel was initially mistaken for copper due to its similar appearance in ores. What makes nickel truly remarkable is its exceptional resistance to corrosion and its ability to maintain strength at very high temperatures. It can withstand seawater, acids, and alkalis that would destroy other metals, making it perfect for marine applications and chemical processing. Here's why nickel matters: it's a key ingredient in the most common stainless steels, comprising 8-12% of austenitic stainless steel alloys. Without nickel, steel can still be stainless (ferritic grades contain little or none), but austenitic grades would lose much of their toughness and formability. This means nickel is literally holding together our infrastructure - from kitchen sinks to chemical plants to the International Space Station. Nickel has fascinating magnetic properties too. It's ferromagnetic like iron and cobalt, but loses its magnetism at 358°C (called the Curie temperature). This property is used in some automatic temperature controls. Nickel also has the unique ability to absorb hydrogen gas, making it useful for hydrogen storage and fuel cell applications. One of the coolest things about nickel is its role in making shape-memory alloys like Nitinol (nickel-titanium). These "smart metals" can remember their original shape and return to it when heated, making them perfect for medical stents, eyeglass frames, and aerospace applications.
The discovery of nickel
The Deceiving Copper Ore
Axel Fredrik Cronstedt (1722-1765), a Swedish mineralogist, discovered nickel in 1751 while attempting to extract copper from kupfernickel ore (now known as nickeline, NiAs). German miners had named this troublesome ore "kupfernickel" (meaning "Devil's copper") because it resembled copper ore but yielded no copper and produced toxic arsenic fumes when smelted.
Systematic Investigation
Cronstedt's careful analysis revealed that kupfernickel contained a previously unknown white metal with properties distinct from all known elements. His isolation techniques involved roasting the ore to remove arsenic, then reducing the resulting oxide with charcoal to produce metallic nickel.
Industrial Development
Commercial nickel production began in the 1860s with the development of New Caledonian laterite processing. The discovery of the Sudbury deposits in 1883 following railroad construction transformed nickel from laboratory curiosity to strategic industrial material, enabling stainless steel development and modern metallurgy.