Naturally occurringnickel (₂₈Ni) consists of five stableisotopes;⁵⁸Ni,⁶⁰Ni,⁶¹Ni,⁶²Ni and⁶⁴Ni;⁵⁸Ni is the most abundant at over 68%. 26radioisotopes have been characterized; the most stable are⁵⁹Ni with ahalf-life of 81,000 years,⁶³Ni with a half-life of 101 years, and⁵⁶Ni at 6.075 days. All the otherradioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than 60 hours and most of these have half-lives of less than 30 seconds. This element also has 11 knownmeta states.

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The known isotopes of nickel range inmass number from⁴⁸Ni to⁸²Ni, and include:^[8]

Nickel-48, discovered in 1999, is the most neutron-poor nickel isotope known. With 28protons and 20neutrons⁴⁸Ni is "doubly magic" (like²⁰⁸
Pb) and therefore much more stable, with a half-life around 3 milliseconds, than would be expected from its position in the chart of nuclides.^[9] It has the highest ratio of protons to neutrons (proton excess) of any known doubly magic nuclide.^[10]

Nickel-56, also doubly magic, is produced in large quantities insupernovae. In the last phases ofstellar evolution of very large stars,fusion of lighter elements like hydrogen and helium comes to an end. Later in the star's life cycle, elements including magnesium, silicon, and sulfur are fused to form heavier elements. Once the last nuclear fusion reactions cease, the star collapses to produce asupernova. During the supernova,silicon burning produces⁵⁶Ni. This isotope of nickel is favored because it has an equal number of neutrons and protons, making it readily produced by fusing two²⁸Si atoms.⁵⁶Ni is the last element that can be formed in thealpha process. Past⁵⁶Ni, nuclear reactions are endoergic and energetically unfavorable.⁵⁶Ni decays to⁵⁶Co and then⁵⁶Fe byβ+ decay.^[11] Theradioactive decay of ⁵⁶Ni and⁵⁶Co supplies much of the energy for thelight curves observed for stellar supernovae.^[12] The shape of thelight curve of these supernovae display characteristic timescales corresponding to the decay of⁵⁶Ni to⁵⁶Co and then to⁵⁶Fe.

Nickel-58 is the most abundant isotope of nickel with a 68.077%natural abundance. It is the only isotope theoretically unstable towarddouble beta decay.

Nickel-59 is a long-livedcosmogenicradionuclide with a half-life of 81,000 years.⁵⁹Ni has found many applications inisotope geology.⁵⁹Ni has been used to date the terrestrial age ofmeteorites and to determine abundances of extraterrestrial dust in ice andsediment.

Nickel-60 is the daughter product of theextinct radionuclide⁶⁰
Fe (half-life 2.62 My). Because⁶⁰Fe has such a long half-life, its persistence in materials in theSolar System at high enough concentrations may have generated observable variations in the isotopic composition of⁶⁰Ni. Therefore, the abundance of⁶⁰Ni 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 from⁶⁰Ni excesses.⁶⁰Ni is also the stable end-product of the decay of⁶⁰Zn, the last rung of thealpha ladder.

Nickel-61 is the only stable isotope of nickel with a nuclear spin (I = 3/2), which makes it useful for studies byEPR spectroscopy.^[13]

Nickel-62 has the highestbinding energy per nucleon of any isotope for any element, when including the electron shell in the calculation, thoughiron-56 has the lower mass-energy per nucleon. Though fusion could form heavier isotopes exothermically - for example, two⁴⁰Ca atoms could make⁸⁰Kr (with 4 positron decays) and liberate 77 keV per nucleon - reactions leading to the iron/nickel region are more probable as they release more energy in total.

Nickel-63 has two main uses:detection of explosives traces, and in certain kinds of electronic devices, such as gas discharge tubes used assurge 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 inelectron capture detectors ingas chromatography for the detection mainly of halogens. It is proposed to be used for miniaturebetavoltaic generators for pacemakers.

Nickel-64 is the heaviest stable isotope of nickel.

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 greaternuclear binding energy and stability despite a lopsidedneutron-proton ratio. Its half-life is122 ± 5.1 milliseconds.^[14] Due to its magic neutron number,⁷⁸Ni is believed to have an important role insupernova nucleosynthesis of elements heavier than iron.^[15]78Ni, along withN = 50isotones⁷⁹Cu and⁸⁰Zn, are thought to constitute a waiting point in ther-process, where furtherneutron capture is delayed by the shell gap and a buildup of isotopes aroundA = 80 results.^[16]

Daughter products other than nickel

• Isotopes of copper
• Isotopes of cobalt
• Isotopes of iron
• Isotopes of manganese

• Isotopes of nickel
• Nickel
• Lists of isotopes by element

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