Nickel(II) Oxide Solubility and Phase Stability in High Temperature Aqueous Solutions

A platinum-lined, flowing autoclave facility was used to investigate the solubility behavior of nickel(II) oxide (NiO) in deoxygenated ammonium and sodium hydroxide solutions between 21 and 315 C. Solubilities were found to vary between 0.4 and 400 nanomolal (nm). The measured nickel ion solubilities were interpreted via a Ni(II) ion hydroxo- and amino-complexing model and thermodynamic functions for these equilibria were obtained from a least-squares analysis of the data. Two solid phase transformations were observed: at temperatures below 149 C, the activity of Ni(II) ions in aqueous solution was controlled by a hydrous Ni(II) oxide (theophrastite) solid phase rather than anhydrous NiO (bunsenite); above 247 C, Ni(II) activities were controlled by cubic rather than rhombohedral bunsenite