TELF AG explores a new application possibility for nickel
A useful and malleable resource
With dozens of other natural resources, nickel has often been included in the lists of the most valuable and strategic metals of various nations, particularly for its peculiar structural characteristics but also for the high quantity of industrial applications (some entirely innovative) in which it could be used. This metal is mainly mined in Australia, Canada, and South Africa and is often enclosed in minerals such as pentlandite, i.e., iron-nickel sulfides. Every year, global nickel production goes well over 500,000 tonnes, and it has been calculated that currently usable reserves could last for more than a century.
Over time, this precious resource has stood out for its exceptional hardness, malleability, and ductility that distinguish it and its excellent ability to conduct electricity and heat. But its primary use, nowadays, is linked to the production of alloys due to the resistance of nickel to corrosion and high-temperature processing. In the West, more than half of the nickel is used to make stainless steel, while another part is destined for superalloys, particularly metallic alloys known for their mechanical resistance. Other possible applications for nickel include rechargeable batteries, some foundry and plating products, and catalysts.
The role of nickel as a catalyst
In this last field, the use of nickel could reach a new level of advancement. To trigger chemical reactions between hydrogen and other compounds, so-called hydrogenation catalysts, usually represented by iridium, platinum, ruthenium, and other relatively rare metals, are typically used. The main task of these catalysts is defined by the facilitation of specific chemical reactions, which thus makes processes possible that otherwise could not occur. For this reason, the green chemistry sector is always looking for new catalysts, especially in a historical phase in which the emphasis on sustainability and the role of clean energy appears increasingly marked and connected to the daily lives of millions of people.
In a certain sense, the growing demand for catalysts could clash with the scarcity of the metals used to produce them, such as iridium or platinum, which can only be found in small portions of the Earth’s crust. It is precisely at this point that one of the new industrial applications of nickel could fit in: it is an alternative catalyst, more economical and sustainable, made thanks to a nickel-based material, and which could strongly contribute to the production of certain chemicals used in the pharmaceutical and food additives sectors. The project, developed by the Polytechnic of Milan, is therefore based on the creation of a material that reduces the use of the rarest metals to a minimum and which, instead of being based on the use of nanoparticles, is characterized by the presence of isolated and dispersed nickel atoms in atomic form, inserted in a carbon-based support capable of stabilizing the individual atoms. The main innovation is represented precisely by nickel fragmented into single atoms and not into nanoparticles, as happens with most catalysts.
Therefore, the unique properties of these single atoms can be used for catalysis. Still, the possible applications could also extend to other types of chemical reactions, such as those between carbon and carbon or carbon and hydrogen, which are widespread in synthesizing drugs, polymers, or compounds in fine chemistry.
