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Scientists develop green nickel extraction method
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials have developed a carbon-free, energy-saving method to extract nickel for batteries and stainless steel. Their latest findings are now published in the journal Nature.
“ If we continue producing nickel in the conventional way and use it for electrification, we are just shifting the problem rather than solving it,” explained Ubaid Manzoor, PhD researcher at MPI-SusMat and first author of the publication. Manzoor and his colleagues have developed a new method to extract nickel from ores in a single step, using hydrogen plasma instead of carbon-based processes. The new process reduces CO 2 emissions by 84 % and is up to
18 % more energy-efficient when renewable electricity and green hydrogen are used.
A major breakthrough of this method is its ability to process low-grade nickel ores( which account for 60 % of total nickel reserves) in a single reactor furnace, where smelting, reduction, and refining occur simultaneously, producing a refined ferronickel alloy directly.
“ By using hydrogen plasma and controlling the thermodynamic processes inside the electric arc furnace, we are able to break down the complex structure of the minerals in low-grade nickel ores into simpler ionic species, even without using catalysts,” explained Professor Isnaldi Souza Filho, head of the
group Sustainable Synthesis of Materials at MPI-SusMat and corresponding author of the publication.
The next step for the Max Planck team is scaling up the process for industrial applications. In an upscaled system, it is crucial to ensure that unreduced melt continuously reaches the reaction interface,” explained Manzoor.“ This can be achieved by implementing short arcs with high currents, integrating an external electromagnetic stirring device beneath the furnace, or employing gas injection.”
The research was funded by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council.
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Green Steel World | Issue 18 | June 2025 21