Explore our high-performance foils, strips, and alloy products tailored for demanding chemical processing environments.
In the demanding realm of chemical engineering, materials face relentless degradation from corrosive media, extreme temperatures, and mechanical stress. Nickel foil and strip have emerged as indispensable structural and functional components for modern chemical processing equipment. Offering unmatched resistance to reducing environments, caustic alkalis, and halogen gases, high-purity nickel (such as Nickel 200 and Nickel 201) ensures the longevity, safety, and efficiency of critical industrial systems.
Industrial Key Insight: The rapid growth of the green hydrogen sector, chlor-alkali production, and advanced battery chemistries has surged the global demand for ultra-thin, high-precision nickel foils and strips with exceptional surface quality and grain structure control.
As chemical manufacturing plants shift toward higher operating efficiencies and more aggressive reactants, the market for specialty metals has witnessed a significant evolution. Nickel foil and strip are no longer treated as standard commodities but as precision-engineered solutions. China’s "Titanium Valley" in Baoji, Shaanxi, has become a global powerhouse for processing these refractory and specialty metals. Companies operating in this region leverage mature industrial clusters, advanced cold-rolling (calendering) technologies, and rigorous quality control systems to supply high-purity nickel products that meet international standards such as ASTM B162.
The global commercial landscape is characterized by a push toward decarbonization. Chemical processing equipment utilized in carbon capture, hydrogen generation (specifically alkaline and PEM electrolyzers), and sustainable polymer synthesis relies heavily on nickel components. Consequently, manufacturers are focusing heavily on delivering nickel strips with tighter thickness tolerances, lower carbon content (to prevent graphitization at high temperatures), and customized surface finishes.
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Baoji, Shaanxi—China’s “Titanium Valley” and the country’s largest base for rare-metal processing—Baoji Yunjie Metal Products Co., Ltd. has specialized for over three decades in refractory and specialty metals, including tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, niobium, titanium, nickel, and zirconium. Today, Yunjie is recognized as a leading specialist and innovator in the region’s specialty-metal processing industry.
Yunjie operates a 15,000 m² manufacturing campus with 8,000 m² of integrated R&D, production, and office facilities, and a registered capital of RMB 15 million. The company has established comprehensive quality management, production assurance, and in-house R&D and innovation systems—providing end-to-end, hardware-to-process control that underpins stable quality and supports large-scale, high-precision manufacturing.
The versatility of nickel foil and strip allows them to be deployed across a wide spectrum of chemical processing equipment. Understanding these specific application scenarios highlights why nickel remains the material of choice for chemical engineers:
The chlor-alkali process, which yields chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), is one of the most corrosive chemical processes in existence. Nickel foil and strip are extensively used as lining materials, electrode substrates, and structural components in membrane electrolyzers. High-purity nickel displays outstanding resistance to hot, concentrated caustic soda solutions at temperatures up to and exceeding 300°C. Its high electrical conductivity also minimizes voltage drops, thereby optimizing energy efficiency during electrolysis.
Dry halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine) and hydrogen chloride gas are highly reactive and destructive to most metals. However, nickel forms a dense, adherent protective halide scale upon exposure to these gases, preventing further corrosion. Nickel strips are utilized to manufacture heat exchangers, vessel linings, and piping systems that handle dry chlorine and fluorine gases in chemical synthesis loops, pharmaceutical production, and fluorochemical manufacturing.
With the transition toward hydrogen energy, nickel foil and strip have found critical applications in Alkaline Electrolyzer (AEL) and Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) cells. They serve as bipolar plates, current collectors, and catalyst substrates. The material's high corrosion resistance prevents catalyst poisoning and degradation of the cell membrane, ensuring a service life of decades in highly alkaline or acidic environments.
In the production of synthetic fibers (like rayon) and soaps, maintaining product purity is paramount. Even trace metal contamination from iron or copper can discolor the final product or catalyze unwanted side reactions. Nickel foil linings inside reaction vessels, storage tanks, and transport pipes prevent contamination, ensuring chemical products maintain their high purity and color consistency.
Focusing on special metals and alloys (W, Mo, Ti, Ta, Nb, Zr, Ni), Yunjie runs complete processing lines—including rolling (calendering), heat treatment, and sheet-metal & precision machining—enabling full in-house control from raw-material processing to finished-product delivery.
Selecting the correct grade of nickel foil or strip is critical for the safety and efficiency of chemical processing equipment. The two primary grades used in industrial environments are Nickel 200 (UNS N02200) and Nickel 201 (UNS N02201):
The manufacturing of nickel foil (typically thicknesses under 0.1 mm) and nickel strip (thicknesses from 0.1 mm to 3.0 mm) requires precise calendering technology. Cold-rolling processes must be tightly controlled to achieve uniform thickness, excellent surface roughness, and specific mechanical properties (ranging from fully annealed to hard temper). Subsequent vacuum annealing is often employed to relieve internal stresses, control grain size, and achieve the exact ductility required for deep drawing, stamping, or cladding onto steel substrates for reactor vessels.
Our commitment to quality and innovation is backed by government recognitions and industry certifications.
Guided by the principle “Quality ensures survival, efficiency drives growth, and continuous improvement earns customer satisfaction,” Yunjie has continuously upgraded its quality systems for more than 30 years. With professional manufacturing services and consistently excellent product performance, we have earned the lasting trust of customers in China and around the world.
The chemical processing industry is undergoing a massive shift toward "Green Chemistry" and smart manufacturing. This evolution directly impacts the specifications and performance requirements of nickel foil and strip:
Modern chemical plants are increasingly adopting micro-reaction technology (MRT) to carry out highly exothermic reactions safely. Micro-reactors feature channel networks with dimensions in the micrometer range. To construct these reactors, manufacturers require ultra-thin nickel foils (down to 10-20 microns) with exceptional flatness and surface finish. These foils are chemically etched and diffusion-bonded to form complex micro-heat exchangers and reactors capable of handling highly concentrated acids and alkalis at high flow rates.
To reduce the consumption of expensive raw materials, chemical equipment builders are turning to nickel-clad steel plates. Nickel strip is explosively clad or hot-rolled onto carbon steel plates to form a corrosion-resistant barrier. This provides the structural strength of steel combined with the superior chemical resistance of nickel, significantly lowering the capital cost of constructing large-scale storage tanks, distillation columns, and chemical reactors.
As chemical synthesis becomes more complex, even microscopic impurities in the reactor lining can lead to catalyst poisoning. The demand for "Electronic Grade" nickel foil (99.9% to 99.99% purity) is expanding from semiconductor manufacturing into high-end chemical processing. Furthermore, controlling the recrystallized grain size of the nickel strip during the annealing phase is critical to prevent intergranular corrosion under high-temperature, high-pressure chemical environments.
Browse our extensive selection of high-precision foils, strips, meshes, and custom parts designed for chemical processing equipment.
