Conductive nickel/carbon fiber composites prepared via an electroless plating route

Abstract

In this work, nickel/carbon fiber composites with excellent conductivity were successfully prepared by an electroless plating method in alkaline media, in which sodium hypophosphite was used as reducing agent. The composition, microstructure, electrical, and magnetic properties of samples were investigated by XRD, SEM, VSM, and four-probe meter techniques, respectively. It was found that the volume of aqueous ammonia and concentration of sodium hypophosphite played important roles on the microstructure of nickel coatings. The composites with compact and uniform nickel layer on the surface of carbon fiber possessed face-centered cubic phase, and the volume resistivity could reach 1.49 × 10−3 Ω cm. In addition, magnetic hysteresis measured at room temperature demonstrated that the nickel-coated carbon fiber composites showed ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization (M s ) and coercivity (H c ) of 5.2 emu/g and 144.9 Oe, respectively.