How extracting and producing nickel can be made more sustainable Premium

Sustainable nickel extraction using hydrogen plasma offers a cleaner, faster, and carbon-free method for future production.

Manzoor, U., Mujica Roncery, L., Raabe, D. et al, ‘Sustainable nickel enabled by hydrogen-based reduction’, Nature 641, 365–373 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08901-7

Nickel powers everything, from gadgets to green technologies. But getting it currently involves a far from green, in fact, a dirty process. However, a new study has revealed what its authors have said is a game-changing and sustainable method to extract nickel from low-grade ores using hydrogen plasma instead of carbon. It’s a one-step process free of carbon dioxide that reportedly saves both energy and time.

Nickel is an important metal used in several clean energy technologies, especially Electric Vehicles (EVs), and the demand for it is expected to surpass six million tonnes a year by 2040. While EVs are seen as a cleaner alternative to traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles, there are hidden environmental costs associated with their production, especially in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries.

A major component in these batteries is nickel and its extraction is highly carbon-intensive. Producing just one tonne of nickel can result in more than 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. So while EVs reduce emissions during operation, the process of sourcing materials like nickel simply shifts the pollution burden from the transportation sector to the mining and processing sector, among others.

The study, published in Nature on April 30, was conducted by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials in Düsseldorf, Germany. In the study, the researchers bypassed the traditional multistep process to extract nickel — which includes calcination, smelting, reduction, and refining — and developed a single metallurgical step conducted in one furnace. “The proposed method has the potential to be up to about 18% more energy efficient while cutting direct carbon dioxide emissions by up to 84% compared with the current practice,” the paper wrote.

Ubaid Manzoor, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute and lead author of the study, said, “Traditional nickel extraction is multi-step, energy-intensive and relies on carbon. Nickel oxide is heated with carbon, which removes the oxygen, producing pure nickel, along with carbon dioxide emissions.” The researchers have proposed replacing carbon with hydrogen as the reducing agent and using electricity as the energy source, specifically through an electric arc furnace.

“In our method, we use hydrogen plasma. Hydrogen gas, when subjected to high-energy electrons in an electric arc, splits into high-energy ions, entering a plasma state — the extremely hot and reactive fourth state of matter. It is distinct from solids, liquids, and gases. This hydrogen plasma rapidly reduces the metal oxides. From a thermodynamic perspective, the process is not only cleaner but significantly faster,” Mr. Manzoor said. He added that the method is kinetically superior — meaning the chemical reaction is more energetically favoured — thanks to the highly reactive and unstable nature of plasma.