NICL

NICL may refer to:

Nickel(II) chloride

Nickel(II) chloride (or just nickel chloride), is the chemical compound NiCl₂. The anhydrous salt is yellow, but the more familiar hydrate NiCl₂·6H₂O is green. In general nickel(II) chloride, in various forms, is the most important source of nickel for chemical synthesis. The nickel chlorides are deliquescent, absorbing moisture from the air to form a solution. Nickel salts are carcinogenic.

Production and syntheses

The largest scale production of nickel chloride involves the extraction with hydrochloric acid of nickel matte and residues obtained from roasting refining nickel-containing ores.

NiCl₂·6H₂O is rarely prepared in the laboratory because it is inexpensive and has a long shelf-life. Heating the hexahydrate in the range 66-133.°C gives the yellowish dihydrate, NiCl₂·2H₂O. The hydrates convert to the anhydrous form upon heating in thionyl chloride or by heating under a stream of HCl gas. Simply heating the hydrates does not afford the anhydrous dichloride.

The dehydration is accompanied by a color change from green to yellow.