Where does nickel for batteries come from? Before nickel could become part of one of the world’s most successful rechargeable batteries, someone had to find it. And then identify it and learn how to obtain it.
Nickel Is a Naturally Occurring Metallic Element
Nickel is a naturally occurring metallic element. However. it does not usually exist as a lump of pure metal in the ground. Instead, it occurs in minerals, particularly in two broad types of deposits. So that’s where nickel for batteries comes from.
Some sources are sulfide deposits associated with ancient volcanic and igneous rocks. Others are laterite deposits formed when weathering breaks down nickel-bearing rocks over very long periods.
Rainfall And Weather Gradually Alter The Original Rock
Laterite deposits are especially important in tropical and subtropical regions. Rainfall and warm conditions gradually alter the original rock, leaving behind concentrations of iron and nickel.
Sulphide deposits form differently, when nickel-bearing minerals concentrate during geological processes deep within the Earth.
Cronstedt Investigates a Mineral Resembilng Copper Ore
People knew about nickel-bearing minerals long before they understood the element itself. In the eighteenth century, Swedish chemist and mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt investigated a mineral that resembled copper ore.
Miners had been unable to extract copper from this source, and blamed ‘troublesome spirits’. Cronstedt identified the previously unknown element in 1751 and named it nickel.
Nickel’s Useful Properties Soon Became Apparent
Nickel’s useful properties soon became apparent. It is resistant to corrosion and can withstand high temperatures, while also forming useful alloys with other metals. These characteristics made nickel valuable in industry long before rechargeable batteries were developed.
Could Nickel Support a Rechargeable Electrochemical Cell?
The next question was whether nickel could do something more: take part in a rechargeable electrochemical cell. That question would lead to an important discovery. But nickel alone was not enough. Another unusual metal was about to enter our story and that was cadmium.
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