Isotopes of nickel

Naturally occurring nickel (Ni) 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).[1] 58Ni may decay by double beta-plus decay to 58Fe.[2] 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.

The isotopes of nickel range in atomic weight from 48
Ni to 78
Ni.

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 unusually stable.[3]

Nickel-56 is produced in large quantities in type Ia supernovae and the shape of the light curve of these supernovae corresponds 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 Ma). 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-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-64 is another 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.[4]

Standard atomic mass: 58.6934(2) u

Contents

Table

nuclide
symbol		 Z(p) N(n)  
isotopic mass (u)
 		 half-life decay
mode(s)[5][n 1]		 daughter
isotope(s)[n 2]		 nuclear
spin		 representative
isotopic
composition
(mole fraction)		 range of natural
variation
(mole fraction)
excitation energy
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[n 3] 0+ 0.680769(89)
59
Ni		 28 31 58.9343467(7) 7.6(5)×104 a β+ 59
Co		 3/2-
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[n 4]		 28 34 61.9283451(6) Stable 0+ 0.036345(17)
63
Ni		 28 35 62.9296694(6) 100.1(20) a 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+
  1. ^ Abbreviations:
    IT: Isomeric transition
  2. ^ Bold for stable isotopes
  3. ^ Believed to decay by β+β+ to 58Fe with a half-life over 700×1018 years
  4. ^ Highest binding energy per nucleon of all nuclides

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Isotopes of the Element Nickel". Science education. Jefferson Lab. http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/iso028.html. 
  2. ^ "decay modes of Fe-58 vs Ni-58". http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=decay%20modes%20of%20Fe-58%20vs%20Ni-58&lk=2. 
  3. ^ P. W. (23 October 1999). "Twice-magic metal makes its debut - isotope of nickel". Science News. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_17_156/ai_57799535. Retrieved 2006-09-29. 
  4. ^ Atom Smashers Shed Light on Supernovae, Big Bang - News from Sky & Telescope - SkyandTelescope.com
  5. ^ Nucleonica: Universal Nuclide Chart

See also

Isotopes of cobalt Isotopes of nickel Isotopes of copper
Index to isotope pages · Table of nuclides