Nickel Cathodes

Nickel cathodes are well appreciated in the non-ferrous metal market. Pure nickel is a malleable and very ductile metal of silver-white color, which in air, at ordinary temperatures, is coated with a thin oxide film that protects it from corrosion.

Nickel got its name from the evil spirit of the mountains from German mythology (cf. German: Nickel – a mischievous person), who threw a mineral to seekers of copper that looked only like copper ore. However, during the melting of nickel ores, arsenic gases were released, which is why the metal was named after its properties.
Nickel, as such, is widespread in the earth’s crust and is found only in bound form, however, in iron meteorites periodically falling to the earth’s surface, the concentration of native nickel can reach 8%.

Also, nickel in various volumes is found in living organisms, and in some types of plants and microorganisms its concentration can be hundreds of thousands of times greater than in the environment. The bulk of nickel is obtained by processing garnierite and pyrite. It is an interesting fact that for a long time nickel could not be obtained in a plastic form due to the fact that it always has an admixture of sulfur in the form of nickel sulfide. However, when a certain amount of magnesium is added to the molten nickel, the compound reacts with sulfur, and it is released in the form of grains without disturbing the ductility of the metal.

Nickel is used in the manufacture of batteries, medicine, in the manufacture of coins, in the music industry (winding strings of musical instruments), to create a layer of thermal insulation (for example, holders for burners of arc mercury lamps). To create an anti-corrosion layer of metal, it is covered with a layer of nickel. The thickness of the resulting Nickel layer is 12-36 microns. This process is called nickel plating.

Nickel cathodes are made using electrolysis in the form of plates. These plates are the basic material in the production of stainless steel, with nickel coating of parts in electronics and mechanical engineering.

Nickel cathode GOST 849-97