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Nickel release rate of 18 KW gold alloy for ornaments

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Abstract

Nickel is widely used as a bleaching element in white gold alloys, but it is a potential allergen. In this paper, a popular 18 KW gold alloy, often called “safe nickel,” was chosen as the experimental material; its nickel release rates under six different processing conditions were evaluated according to the EN1811 standard. The results reveal that both the surface processing method and heat treatment technology significantly affect the nickel release rate. A coarse surface releases more nickel ions than a smooth surface. The sample normalized at 700 °C in the single region has a lower nickel release rate than the one treated at 550 °C in the two-phase phase region, while high temperature normalizing at 800 °C will accelerate it. All the measured nickel release rates of the experimental material under various processing conditions exceed the permitted threshold value in the Nickel Directive, which indicates that there exists the potential risk of nickel-induced allergy when it is used to make jewelries, especially for piercing types.

Graphical abstract

The surface topography of W4 sample after soaking in artificial sweat for one week, there are a large number of corrosion pits on the surface, which shows that the material under sand blasting is subjected to serious corrosion, and the nickel release rate will be accelerated.

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Acknowledgment

This project was financially supported by the united foundation of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Guangdong province (No. U1034002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Jun-Ping Yuan & Wei Li

  2. Jewelry Institute of Guangzhou Panyu Polytechnic, Guangzhou, 511483, China

    Jun-Ping Yuan & Wen-Ming Liu

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  1. Jun-Ping Yuan
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  2. Wei Li
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  3. Wen-Ming Liu
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Correspondence to Wei Li.

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Yuan, JP., Li, W. & Liu, WM. Nickel release rate of 18 KW gold alloy for ornaments. Rare Met. 32, 33–39 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0017-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0017-1

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