Nickel

Anomalies in ⁶⁰Ni abundance caused by decay of now extinct ⁶⁰Fe have been used to study the early history of our Solar System (see section 4.26.2). ⁵⁹Ni is a cosmogenic radionuclide with a half-life of 7.6×10⁴ years. Decay of ⁵⁹Ni has been used to assess the terrestrial age of meteorites and to determine abundances of extraterrestrial dust in ice and sediment [230].

⁶³Ni (with a half-life of 99 years) is produced from stable ⁶²Ni and is a beta-emitting radionuclide that serves as an electron source together with ⁵⁵Fe in electron-capture detectors. Electron-capture detectors are used as thickness gauges or as detectors for organic analytes in gas chromatography (Fig. IUPAC.28.2) [108]. ⁶³Ni is also used to ionize substances in ion mobility spectrometry–the basis of the instrument used in airports to screen passengers for drugs and bombs [231]. ⁶³Ni is also used as a fluorescence-inducing source in elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and in miniaturized long-lived nuclear batteries [108]. Until the mid-1980s, nuclear batteries were used in pacemakers, but then they were replaced by long-lasting lithium batteries [232].