Isotopes of nickel

Isotopes of nickel (₂₈Ni)

Main isotopes Decay abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct 58Ni 68.1% stable 59Ni trace 7.6×104 y ε 59Co 60Ni 26.2% stable 61Ni 1.14% stable 62Ni 3.63% stable 63Ni synth 100 y β− 63Cu 64Ni 0.926% stable
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Ni)
	58.6934±0.0004 58.693±0.001 (abridged)

Naturally occurring nickel (₂₈Ni) is composed of five stable isotopes; ⁵⁸
Ni
, ⁶⁰
Ni
, ⁶¹
Ni
, ⁶²
Ni
and ⁶⁴
Ni
with ⁵⁸
Ni
being the most abundant (68.077% natural abundance). 26 radioisotopes have been characterised with the most stable being ⁵⁹
Ni
with a half-life of 76,000 years, ⁶³
Ni
with a half-life of 100.1 years, and ⁵⁶
Ni
with a half-life of 6.077 days. All of the remaining radioactive 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 1 meta state.

Notable isotopes

The 5 stable and 26 unstable isotopes of nickel range in atomic weight from ⁴⁸
Ni
to ⁷⁸
Ni
, and include:

Nickel-48, discovered in 1999, is the most neutron-poor nickel isotope known. With 28 protons and 20 neutrons ⁴⁸
Ni
is "doubly magic" (like ²⁰⁸
Pb
) and therefore much more stable than would be expected from its position in the chart of nuclides.

Nickel-56 is produced in large quantities in type Ia supernovae and the shape of the light curve of these supernovae display characteristic timescales corresponding to the decay of nickel-56 to cobalt-56 and then to iron-56.

Nickel-58 is the most abundant isotope of nickel, making up 68.077% of the natural abundance. Possible sources include electron capture from copper-58 and EC + p from zinc-59.

Nickel-59 is a long-lived cosmogenic radionuclide with a half-life of 76,000 years. ⁵⁹
Ni
has found many applications in isotope geology. ⁵⁹
Ni
has been used to date the terrestrial age of meteorites and to determine abundances of extraterrestrial dust in ice and sediment.

Nickel-60 is the daughter product of the extinct radionuclide ⁶⁰
Fe
(half-life = 2.6 My). Because ⁶⁰
Fe
had such a long half-life, its persistence in materials in the solar system at high enough concentrations may have generated observable variations in the isotopic composition of ⁶⁰
Ni
. Therefore, the abundance of ⁶⁰
Ni
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 ⁶⁰
Ni
excesses. Other sources may also include beta decay from cobalt-60 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.

Nickel-62 has the highest binding energy 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 ⁴⁰
Ca
atoms can fuse to form ⁸⁰
Kr
plus 4 electrons, 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, and in certain kinds of electronic devices, such as surge protectors. 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 for the detection mainly of halogens.

Nickel-64 is another stable isotope of nickel. Possible sources include beta decay from cobalt-64, and electron capture from copper-64

Nickel-78 is the element's heaviest isotope and is believed to have an important involvement in supernova nucleosynthesis of elements heavier than iron.

List of isotopes

nuclide symbol	Z(p)	N(n)	isotopic mass (u)	half-life	decay mode(s)	daughter isotope(s)	nuclear spin	representative isotopic composition (mole fraction)	range of natural variation (mole fraction)
	excitation energy (keV)
48 Ni	28	20	48.01975(54)#	10# ms [>500 ns]			0+
49 Ni	28	21	49.00966(43)#	13(4) ms [12(+5-3) ms]			7/2−#
50 Ni	28	22	49.99593(28)#	9.1(18) ms	β+	50Co	0+
51 Ni	28	23	50.98772(28)#	30# ms [>200 ns]	β+	51Co	7/2−#
52 Ni	28	24	51.97568(9)#	38(5) ms	β+ (83%)	52Co	0+
					β+, p (17%)	51Fe
53 Ni	28	25	52.96847(17)#	45(15) ms	β+ (55%)	53Co	(7/2−)#
					β+, p (45%)	52Fe
54 Ni	28	26	53.95791(5)	104(7) ms	β+	54Co	0+
55 Ni	28	27	54.951330(12)	204.7(17) ms	β+	55Co	7/2−
56 Ni	28	28	55.942132(12)	6.075(10) d	β+	56 Co	0+
57 Ni	28	29	56.9397935(19)	35.60(6) h	β+	57 Co	3/2−
58 Ni	28	30	57.9353429(7)	Observationally stable			0+	0.680769(89)
59 Ni	28	31	58.9343467(7)	7.6(5)×104 y	EC (99%)	59 Co	3/2−
					β+ (1.5x10−5%)
60 Ni	28	32	59.9307864(7)	Stable			0+	0.262231(77)
61 Ni	28	33	60.9310560(7)	Stable			3/2−	0.011399(6)
62 Ni	28	34	61.9283451(6)	Stable			0+	0.036345(17)
63 Ni	28	35	62.9296694(6)	100.1(20) y	β−	63 Cu	1/2−
63m Ni	87.15(11) keV			1.67(3) µs			5/2−
64 Ni	28	36	63.9279660(7)	Stable			0+	0.009256(9)
65 Ni	28	37	64.9300843(7)	2.5172(3) h	β−	65 Cu	5/2−
65m Ni	63.37(5) keV			69(3) µs			1/2−
66 Ni	28	38	65.9291393(15)	54.6(3) h	β−	66 Cu	0+
67 Ni	28	39	66.931569(3)	21(1) s	β−	67 Cu	1/2−
67m Ni	1007(3) keV			13.3(2) µs	β−	67 Cu	9/2+
					IT	67Ni
68 Ni	28	40	67.931869(3)	29(2) s	β−	68 Cu	0+
68m1 Ni	1770.0(10) keV			276(65) ns			0+
68m2 Ni	2849.1(3) keV			860(50) µs			5-
69 Ni	28	41	68.935610(4)	11.5(3) s	β−	69 Cu	9/2+
69m1 Ni	321(2) keV			3.5(4) s	β−	69 Cu	(1/2−)
					IT	69Ni
69m2 Ni	2701(10) keV			439(3) ns			(17/2−)
70 Ni	28	42	69.93650(37)	6.0(3) s	β−	70 Cu	0+
70m Ni	2860(2) keV			232(1) ns			8+
71 Ni	28	43	70.94074(40)	2.56(3) s	β−	71 Cu	1/2−#
72 Ni	28	44	71.94209(47)	1.57(5) s	β− (>99.9%)	72 Cu	0+
					β−, n (<.1%)	71 Cu
73 Ni	28	45	72.94647(32)#	0.84(3) s	β− (>99.9%)	73 Cu	(9/2+)
					β−, n (<.1%)	72 Cu
74 Ni	28	46	73.94807(43)#	0.68(18) s	β− (>99.9%)	74 Cu	0+
					β−, n (<.1%)	73 Cu
75 Ni	28	47	74.95287(43)#	0.6(2) s	β− (98.4%)	75 Cu	(7/2+)#
					β−, n (1.6%)	74 Cu
76 Ni	28	48	75.95533(97)#	470(390) ms [0.24(+55-24) s]	β− (>99.9%)	76 Cu	0+
					β−, n (<.1%)	75 Cu
77 Ni	28	49	76.96055(54)#	300# ms [>300 ns]	β−	77 Cu	9/2+#
78 Ni	28	50	77.96318(118)#	120# ms [>300 ns]	β−	78 Cu	0+

Notes

• Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses.
• Uncertainties are given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits. Uncertainty values denote one standard deviation, except isotopic composition and standard atomic mass from IUPAC, which use expanded uncertainties.
• Nuclide masses are given by IUPAP Commission on Symbols, Units, Nomenclature, Atomic Masses and Fundamental Constants (SUNAMCO).
• Isotope abundances are given by IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW).

References

• Isotope masses from:
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2008. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from:
  • J. R. de Laeter; J. K. Böhlke; P. De Bièvre; H. Hidaka; H. S. Peiser; K. J. R. Rosman; P. D. P. Taylor (2003). "Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 75 (6): 683–800. doi:10.1351/pac200375060683.
  • M. E. Wieser (2006). "Atomic weights of the elements 2005 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 78 (11): 2051–2066. doi:10.1351/pac200678112051. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |laysummary= ignored (help)
• Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. See editing notes on this article's talk page.
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2008. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  • National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.1 database". Brookhaven National Laboratory. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  • N. E. Holden (2004). "Table of the Isotopes". In D. R. Lide (ed.). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). CRC Press. Section 11. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)

See also

• Nickel-62