Iron–nickel alloy
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An iron–nickel alloy or nickel–iron alloy, abbreviated FeNi or NiFe, is a group of alloys that mostly consist of the elements nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe). It is the main constituent of the "iron" planetary cores and "iron" meteorite. The acronym NiFe is used to refer to various chemical reactions that involve an iron–nickel catalyst or component, or in geology, to refer to the general composition of planetary cores (including Earth's).
Some iron–nickel alloys are also called nickel steel and usually contain other additional elements, depending on the purposes they are designed for.
Astronomy and geology
Iron and nickel are notable for being the final elements produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, and thus the heaviest elements that do not require a supernova or similarly cataclysmic event for formation.[1] Iron and nickel are therefore the most abundant metals in metallic meteorites[2] and in the dense metal cores of planets such as Earth.
Nickel–iron alloys occur naturally on Earth's surface as telluric or meteoric iron.
Chemistry and technology
The affinity of nickel (atomic number 28) and iron (atomic number 26) for one another produce natural occurring alloys, a large number of commercial alloys, and provide a complex electron environment for catalyzing chemical reactions.[3]
In steel technology nickel is alloyed with iron to produce maraging steel and some low-alloy steels. Other technological uses include Invar and Mu-metal.
Overview
The following table is an overview of different iron–nickel alloys. Naturally occurring alloys are a type of mineral and called native elements or native metals. Some of the entries have more than one crystal structure (e.g. meteoric iron is a mixture of two crystal structures).
| Name | Description | Chemical formula/Weight percent Ni |
|---|---|---|
| Antitaenite | An intermetallic compound found in meteorites. | Fe3Ni[4] |
| Austenite | A special allotrope of steel that is stabilized with nickel. | |
| Awaruite | A native intermetallic compound found in serpentinites and meteorites. | Ni2Fe to Ni3Fe |
| Earth's core | Earth's core is composed of an iron–nickel alloy. | about 5.5%[5] |
| Elinvar | A steel whose elasticity does not change with temperature. | 36% (also 5% chromium) |
| Invar | A steel with very low thermal expansion. | 36% |
| Kamacite | A native alloy found in meteoric iron | Fe0.9Ni0.1 |
| Maraging steel | A strong, malleable variant of steel | 15 to 25% |
| Meteoric iron | A combination of mostly kamacite and taenite and minor amounts of tetrataenite, antitaenite and awaruite. | 5–30% |
| Mu-metal | An alloy with high magnetic permeability. | 77% |
| Planetary core | Planets, Moons and Planetesimals also can have cores made of an iron–nickel alloy. | Various |
| Taenite | A native alloy found in meteorites | NiFe |
| Telluric iron | A native alloy found on Earth (not extraterrestrial) | Fe (but 0.05 to 4% nickel) |
| Tetrataenite | A native alloy found in meteorites. | FeNi |
See also
 |
Look up nife in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References
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- ↑ Mason, Brian Harold (1971) Handbook of Elemental Abundances in Meteorites Gordon and Breach, New York, ISBN 0-677-14950-6
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