Naturally occurring

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

(₂₈Ni) is composed of five stable

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

s; , , , and , with being the most abundant (68.077%

natural abundance In physics, natural abundance (NA) refers to the abundance of isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass (a weighted average, weighted by mole-fraction abundance figures) of these isotopes is the atomi ...

). 26

radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...

s have been characterised with the most stable being with a

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

of 76,000 years, with a half-life of 100.1 years, and with a half-life of 6.077 days. All of the remaining

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

isotopes have half-lives that are less than 60 hours and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 30 seconds. This element also has 8

meta state A nuclear isomer is a metastable state of an atomic nucleus, in which one or more nucleons (protons or neutrons) occupy higher energy levels than in the ground state of the same nucleus. "Metastable" describes nuclei whose excited states have ...

List of isotopes

, - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 20 , 48.01975(54)# , 10# ms
500 ns, , , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 21 , 49.00966(43)# , 13(4) ms
2(+5−3) ms, , , 7/2−# , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 22 , 49.99593(28)# , 9.1(18) ms , β⁺ , ⁵⁰Co , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 23 , 50.98772(28)# , 30# ms
200 ns, β⁺ , ⁵¹Co , 7/2−# , , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 24 , rowspan=2, 51.97568(9)# , rowspan=2, 38(5) ms , β⁺ (83%) , ⁵²Co , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (17%) , ⁵¹Fe , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 25 , rowspan=2, 52.96847(17)# , rowspan=2, 45(15) ms , β⁺ (55%) , ⁵³Co , rowspan=2, (7/2−)# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (45%) , ⁵²Fe , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 26 , 53.95791(5) , 104(7) ms , β⁺ , ⁵⁴Co , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 27 , 54.951330(12) , 204.7(17) ms , β⁺ , ⁵⁵Co , 7/2− , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 28 , 55.942132(12) , 6.075(10) d , β⁺ , , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 29 , 56.9397935(19) , 35.60(6) h , β⁺ , , 3/2− , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 30 , 57.9353429(7) , colspan=3 align=center,

Observationally stable Stable nuclides are nuclides that are not radioactive and so (unlike radionuclides) do not spontaneously undergo radioactive decay. When such nuclides are referred to in relation to specific elements, they are usually termed stable isotopes. Th ...

Believed to decay by β⁺β⁺ to ⁵⁸Fe with a half-life over 7×10²⁰ years , 0+ , 0.680769(89) , , - , rowspan=2 , , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 31 , rowspan=2 , 58.9343467(7) , rowspan=2 , 7.6(5)×10⁴ y , EC (99%) , rowspan=2 , , rowspan=2 , 3/2− , rowspan=2 , , rowspan=2 , , - , β⁺ (1.5%) , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 32 , 59.9307864(7) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.262231(77) , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 33 , 60.9310560(7) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 3/2− , 0.011399(6) , , - , Highest

binding energy In physics and chemistry, binding energy is the smallest amount of energy required to remove a particle from a system of particles or to disassemble a system of particles into individual parts. In the former meaning the term is predominantly use ...

per

nucleon In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number (nucleon number). Until the 1960s, nucleons were ...

of all nuclides , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 34 , 61.9283451(6) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.036345(17) , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 35 , 62.9296694(6) , 100.1(20) y , β⁻ , , 1/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 87.15(11) keV , 1.67(3) μs , , , 5/2− , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 36 , 63.9279660(7) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.009256(9) , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 37 , 64.9300843(7) , 2.5172(3) h , β⁻ , , 5/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 63.37(5) keV , 69(3) μs , , , 1/2− , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 38 , 65.9291393(15) , 54.6(3) h , β⁻ , , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 39 , 66.931569(3) , 21(1) s , β⁻ , , 1/2− , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1007(3) keV , rowspan=2, 13.3(2) μs , β⁻ , , rowspan=2, 9/2+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , IT , ⁶⁷Ni , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 40 , 67.931869(3) , 29(2) s , β⁻ , , 0+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1770.0(10) keV , 276(65) ns , , , 0+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2849.1(3) keV , 860(50) μs , , , 5− , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 41 , 68.935610(4) , 11.5(3) s , β⁻ , , 9/2+ , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 321(2) keV , rowspan=2, 3.5(4) s , β⁻ , , rowspan=2, (1/2−) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , IT , ⁶⁹Ni , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2701(10) keV , 439(3) ns , , , (17/2−) , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 42 , 69.93650(37) , 6.0(3) s , β⁻ , , 0+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2860(2) keV , 232(1) ns , , , 8+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 43 , 70.94074(40) , 2.56(3) s , β⁻ , , 1/2−# , , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 44 , rowspan=2, 71.94209(47) , rowspan=2, 1.57(5) s , β⁻ (>99.9%) , , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (<.1%) , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 45 , rowspan=2, 72.94647(32)# , rowspan=2, 0.84(3) s , β⁻ (>99.9%) , , rowspan=2, (9/2+) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (<.1%) , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 46 , rowspan=2, 73.94807(43)# , rowspan=2, 0.68(18) s , β⁻ (>99.9%) , , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (<.1%) , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 47 , rowspan=2, 74.95287(43)# , rowspan=2, 0.6(2) s , β⁻ (98.4%) , , rowspan=2, (7/2+)# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (1.6%) , , - , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 28 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 48 , rowspan=2, 75.95533(97)# , rowspan=2, 470(390) ms
.24(+55−24) s, β⁻ (>99.9%) , , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (<.1%) , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 49 , 76.96055(54)# , 300# ms
300 ns, β⁻ , , 9/2+# , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 50 , 77.96318(118)# , 120# ms
300 ns, β⁻ , , 0+ , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 51 , 78.970400(640)# , 43.0 ms +86−75 , β⁻ , , , , , - , , style="text-align:right" , 28 , style="text-align:right" , 52 , 78.970400(640)# , 24 ms +26−17 , β⁻ , , , ,

Notable isotopes

The 5 stable and 30 unstable isotopes of nickel range in

atomic weight Relative atomic mass (symbol: ''A''; sometimes abbreviated RAM or r.a.m.), also known by the deprecated synonym atomic weight, is a dimensionless physical quantity defined as the ratio of the average mass of atoms of a chemical element in a giv ...

from to , and include: Nickel-48, discovered in 1999, is the most neutron-poor nickel isotope known. With 28

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

s and 20

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...

s is "

doubly magic In nuclear physics, a magic number is a number of nucleons (either protons or neutrons, separately) such that they are arranged into complete Nuclear shell model, shells within the atomic nucleus. As a result, atomic nuclei with a 'magic' number o ...

" (like ) and therefore much more stable (with a lower limit of its half-life-time of .5 μs) than would be expected from its position in the chart of nuclides. It has the highest ratio of protons to neutrons (proton excess) of any known doubly magic nuclide. Nickel-56 is produced in large quantities in

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

s and the shape of the

light curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequ ...

of these supernovas display characteristic timescales corresponding to the decay of nickel-56 to

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

-56 and then to

iron-56 Iron-56 (56Fe) is the most common isotope of iron. About 91.754% of all iron is iron-56. Of all nuclides, iron-56 has the lowest mass per nucleon. With 8.8 MeV binding energy per nucleon, iron-56 is one of the most tightly bound nuclei. N ...

. Nickel-58 is the most abundant isotope of nickel, making up 68.077% of the

. Possible sources include

electron capture Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. Thi ...

from

copper-58 Copper (29Cu) has two stable isotopes, 63Cu and 65Cu, along with 27 radioisotopes. The most stable radioisotope is 67Cu with a half-life of 61.83 hours, while the least stable is 54Cu with a half-life of approximately 75 ns. Most have ha ...

and EC + p from

zinc-59 Naturally occurring zinc (30Zn) is composed of the 5 stable isotopes 64Zn, 66Zn, 67Zn, 68Zn, and 70Zn with 64Zn being the most abundant (48.6% natural abundance). Twenty-five radioisotopes have been characterised with the most abundant and stable ...

. Nickel-59 is a long-lived

cosmogenic Cosmogenic nuclides (or cosmogenic isotopes) are rare nuclides (isotopes) created when a high-energy cosmic ray interacts with the nucleus of an ''in situ'' Solar System atom, causing nucleons (protons and neutrons) to be expelled from the atom ...

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...

with a half-life of 76,000 years. has found many applications in

isotope geology Isotope geochemistry is an aspect of geology based upon the study of natural variations in the relative abundances of isotopes of various Chemical element, elements. Variations in isotopic abundance are measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry, ...

. has been used to date the terrestrial age of

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s and to determine abundances of extraterrestrial dust in ice and

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

. Nickel-60 is the daughter product of the

extinct radionuclide An extinct radionuclide is a radionuclide that was formed by nucleosynthesis before the formation of the Solar System, about 4.6 billion years ago, but has since decayed to virtually zero abundance and is no longer detectable as a primordial nuc ...

(half-life = 2.6 My). Because had such a long half-life, its persistence in materials in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

at high enough concentrations may have generated observable variations in the isotopic composition of . Therefore, the abundance of present in extraterrestrial material may provide insight into the origin of the Solar System and its early history/very early history. Unfortunately, nickel isotopes appear to have been heterogeneously distributed in the early Solar System. Therefore, so far, no actual age information has been attained from excesses. is also the stable end-product of the decay of , the product of the final rung of the alpha ladder. Other sources may also include

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus, transforming the original nuclide to an isobar of that nuclide. For ...

from

cobalt-60 Cobalt-60 (60Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2713 years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisoto ...

and electron capture from copper-60. Nickel-61 is the only stable isotope of nickel with a nuclear spin (I = 3/2), which makes it useful for studies by

EPR spectroscopy Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a method for studying materials that have unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but the spin ...

Nickel-62 Nickel-62 is an isotope of nickel having 28 protons and 34 neutrons. It is a stable isotope, with the highest binding energy per nucleon of any known nuclide (8.7945 MeV). It is often stated that 56Fe is the "most stable nucleus", but only bec ...

has the highest

per nucleon of any isotope for any element, when including the electron shell in the calculation. More energy is released forming this isotope than any other, although fusion can form heavier isotopes. For instance, two atoms can fuse to form plus 4 positrons (plus 4 neutrinos), liberating 77 keV per nucleon, but reactions leading to the iron/nickel region are more probable as they release more energy per baryon. Nickel-63 has two main uses:

Detection of explosives traces Explosives trace detectors (ETD) are explosive detection equipment able to detect explosives of small magnitude. The detection is accomplished by sampling non-visible "trace" amounts of particulates. Devices similar to ETDs are also used to detec ...

, and in certain kinds of electronic devices, such as gas discharge tubes used as

surge protector A 'surge protector'' (or spike suppressor, surge suppressor, surge diverter, surge protection device (SPD) or transient voltage surge suppressor (TVSS) is an appliance or device intended to protect electrical devices from voltage spikes in alt ...

s. A surge protector is a device that protects sensitive electronic equipment like computers from sudden changes in the electric current flowing into them. It is also used in Electron capture detector in

gas chromatography Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...

for the detection mainly of halogens. It is proposed to be used for miniature betavoltaic generators for pacemakers. Nickel-64 is another stable isotope of nickel. Possible sources include

from cobalt-64, and electron capture from

copper-64 Copper-64 (64Cu) is a positron and beta emitting isotope of copper, with applications for molecular radiotherapy and positron emission tomography. Its unusually long half-life (12.7-hours) for a positron-emitting isotope makes it increasingly us ...

. Nickel-78 is one of the element's heaviest known isotopes. With 28 protons and 50 neutrons, nickel-78 is doubly magic, resulting in much greater

nuclear binding energy Nuclear binding energy in experimental physics is the minimum energy that is required to disassemble the atomic nucleus, nucleus of an atom into its constituent protons and neutrons, known collectively as nucleons. The binding energy for stable n ...

and stability despite having a lopsided neutron-proton ratio. It has a half-life of 122 ± 5.1 milliseconds. As a consequence of its magic neutron number, nickel-78 is believed to have an important involvement in

supernova nucleosynthesis Supernova nucleosynthesis is the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements in supernova explosions. In sufficiently massive stars, the nucleosynthesis by fusion of lighter elements into heavier ones occurs during sequential hydrostatic burning processe ...

of elements heavier than iron. ⁷⁸Ni, along with ''N'' = 50

isotone Two nuclides are isotones if they have the same neutron number ''N'', but different proton number ''Z''. For example, boron-12 and carbon-13 nuclei both contain 7 neutrons, and so are isotones. Similarly, 36S, 37Cl, 38Ar, 39K, and 40Ca nucl ...

s ⁷⁹Cu and ⁸⁰Zn, are thought to constitute a waiting point in the ''r''-process, where further

neutron capture Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus. Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily than positively charged protons, ...

is delayed by the shell gap and a buildup of isotopes around ''A'' = 80 results.

References

* Isotope masses from: ** * Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from: ** ** * Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. ** ** ** ** {{Navbox element isotopes Nickel

Nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...