Phase transformation sequence of amorphous nickel-molybdenum electrodeposit

Abstract

In this paper, the amorphous Ni-Mo alloy with cauliflower-like morphology is successfully prepared by electrodeposition, and the effects of heat treatment on its morphology, element content and structure are studied. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) show that, when the temperature is higher than 600 ℃, the fine grains gradually appear and then cover the entire surface of Ni-Mo alloy. The Ni-Mo alloy occurs simultaneously the segregation phenomenon and the Mo content increases on the surface. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis illustrate that the Ni-Mo alloy gradually transfers from amorphous into crystalline structure, and the first phase MoNi4 and the second phase MoNi precipitate near 633℃ and 707℃ respectively. The apparent activation energy is 234.1 kJ/mol (ΔEa1) for the first phase crystallization and 819.9 kJ/mol (ΔEa2) for the second phase crystallization. The HER catalytic activity of Ni-Mo alloy increases first and then decreases with the increase of heat treatment temperature.