Nickel as catalyst

Found that powdered nickel could act as a catalyst to convert ethylene to ethane, which helped in creating edible fats from inedible plant oils. Nickel was much cheaper than platnium which had previous been used for this purpose.
 Paul Sabatier France 1897 Nickel as catalyst

Found that powdered nickel could act as a catalyst to convert ethylene to ethane, which helped in creating edible fats from inedible plant oils. Nickel was much cheaper than platnium which had previous been used for this purpose.