Carbonyl metallurgy is used to manufacture products of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

, steel, and other

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

s. Coatings are produced by vapor plating using

metal carbonyl Metal carbonyls are coordination complexes of transition metals with carbon monoxide ligands. Metal carbonyls are useful in organic synthesis and as catalysts or catalyst precursors in homogeneous catalysis, such as hydroformylation and Reppe c ...

vapors. These are metal-

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule ( functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's elec ...

complexes where

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

is bonded to individual atoms of metals . Iron carbonyl is stable as

iron pentacarbonyl Iron pentacarbonyl, also known as iron carbonyl, is the compound with formula . Under standard conditions Fe( CO)5 is a free-flowing, straw-colored liquid with a pungent odour. Older samples appear darker. This compound is a common precursor to ...

, where five carbon monoxide molecules are pendently bonded to the iron atom, while

nickel carbonyl Nickel carbonyl (IUPAC name: tetracarbonylnickel) is a nickel(0) organometallic compound with the formula Ni(CO)4. This colorless liquid is the principal carbonyl of nickel. It is an intermediate in the Mond process for producing very high-pu ...

is stable as nickel tetracarbonyl, which has four carbon monoxide molecules pendantly bonded to the nickel atom. Both can be formed by the exposure of the powdered metal to carbon monoxide gas at temperatures of around 75 degrees Celsius. Both the metal carbonyls decompose near 175 °C, resulting in a vapor plated metallic coating. The thickness of the vapor plated deposit can be increased to desired thicknesses by controlling the amount of metal carbonyl used and the duration of the plating process.

Vale Inco Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...

produces over 100 million pounds (''ca''. 45000

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

) of nickel metal annually by the carbonyl process. The carbonyl process has been used to produce molds in custom shapes for industry. Such molds have been used in plastic molding and other manufacturing techniques. William Jenkin developed many of the techniques and procedures used in carbonyl metallurgy. Carbonyl metallurgy is useful as a low-temperature metal coating technique that may find many applications in the future. File:Nickel-tetracarbonyl-2D.png,

Nickel tetracarbonyl Nickel carbonyl (IUPAC name: tetracarbonylnickel) is a nickel(0) organometallic compound with the formula Ni(CO)4. This colorless liquid is the principal carbonyl of nickel. It is an intermediate in the Mond process for producing very high-pur ...

File:Fe(CO)5.png,

Iron pentacarbonyl Iron pentacarbonyl, also known as iron carbonyl, is the compound with formula . Under standard conditions Fe( CO)5 is a free-flowing, straw-colored liquid with a pungent odour. Older samples appear darker. This compound is a common precursor to ...

See also

Further reading