Nickel Thickness Research Articles

Corrosion Characterization in Nickel Plated 110 ksi Low Alloy Steel and Incoloy 925: An Experimental Case Study

Incoloy 925 is an age hardenable Nickel-Iron-Chromium alloy with the addition of Molybdenum, Copper, Titanium and Aluminium used in many applications in oil and gas industry. Nickel alloys are preferred mostly in corrosive environments where there is high concentration of H2S, CO2, chlorides and free Sulphur as sufficient nickel content provides protection against chloride-ion stress-corrosion cracking. But unfortunately, Nickel alloys are very expensive. Plating an alloy steel part with nickel would cost much lesser than a part make of nickel alloy for large quantities. A brief study will be carried out to compare the performance of nickel plated alloy steel with that of an Incoloy 925 part by conducting corrosion tests. Tests will be carried out using different coating thicknesses of Nickel on low alloy steel in 0.1 M NaCl solution and results will be verified. From the test results we can confirm that Nickel plated low alloy steel is found to exhibit fairly good corrosion in comparison with Incoloy 925 and thus can be an excellent candidate to replace Incoloy materials.

Magnetoelectric effect in a sandwich structure of gallium arsenide–nickel–tin–nickel

The results of investigation of the magnetoelectric effect in a nickel-tin-nickel sandwich structure obtained by galvanic deposition of gallium arsenide on a substrate are presented. The technology of constructing such structures is described and the experimental results of the frequency dependence of the effect are presented. It is shown that the use of tin as an intermediate layer reduces the mechanical stresses resulting from the incommensurability of the phases, which permits obtaining qualitative structures with the nickel thickness of about 70 μm. The resulting structures exhibit good adhesion between the layers and have a high quality factor.

Preparation of nickel coating on ZTA particles by electroless plating

With the aim to effectively improve the interface between ZrO2 toughened Al2O3 (ZTA) particles and metal matrix, nickel was deposited on the surface of ZTA particles by electroless plating method. Formation mechanism of nickel coating and effects of the solution pH, loading capacity of ZTA particles and temperature on the nickel deposition were investigated. Microstructures, thickness and element distributions of nickel coating were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the nickel was successfully deposited on the surface of ZTA particles by electroless plating without noticeable defects. The process of electroless nickel plating could be explained by combination of atomic hydrogen and electrochemistry theories. The interfacial nucleation of nickel is easier to form than spontaneous nucleation in the solution. Deposited Nickel has priority on the surface of ZTA particles comparing to that in solution. The optimal conditions to coat nickel on the surface of ZTA particles are: solution pH 4.7–4.8, loading capacity 15–20 g/L, and electroless plating temperature 85 °C. The ZTA particle reinforced iron matrix composites prepared by powder metallurgy could have better interfacial bonding between ZTA particle and iron matrix because of the nickel coating on the surface of ZTA particle. Nickel diffuses into the iron matrix during the sintering preparation of composite materials. The interface between ZTA particle and iron matrix presents the evidence of non-chemical bonding.

Optimizing Surface Texture and Coating Thickness of Nickel Coated ABS-3D Parts

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the additive manufacturing technique frequently used in industry due to its simplicity of operation and ability to fabricate parts with locally controlled properties. Material constraints is a major demerit of FDM build parts apart from the low surface finish. Most of the FDM machines utilizes plastic materials such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Poly Lactic Acid(PLA), etc. Metal FDM machines are being used now a days but it is still in a very nascent stage. In order to build complicated functional parts and to achieve better mechanical and electrical properties, weight and cost reduction it is necessary to manufacture ABS parts by FDM and metallise the surface. In this study, Nickel has been considered as the coating material due to its low cost and aesthetic look. Apart from controlling the important machining parameters such as raster angle (RA) and air gaps (AG), coating parameters such as 'Voltage' (V) and 'Time of metal plating' (T) are also considered under controlled environment. The result showed significant improvement in the surface finish of ABS-FDM build parts.

Graphene produced by carbon diffusion through nickel foil

This paper presents results of obtaining graphene and few-layer graphene nanostructures byunconventional method consisting in the diffusion of carbon through a thin nickel foil. The production ofgraphene and few-layer graphene nanostructures by the diffusion method was carried out under highvacuum conditions, with resistive heating of nickel. The growing method presented by us makes itpossible to control the process of graphene formation by changing parameters such as: temperature, timeand thickness of nickel. Data on the time dependence of the diffusion process on the nickel thickness andtemperature are given. From the obtained experimental data was found the parameters determining thediffusion dynamics: Eɑ - the activation energy and concentration diffusion coefficient. The obtainedsamples were investigated by optical and electron microscopy, as well as by Raman spectroscopy. Theexperimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical Arrhenius relation, which confirms thediffusion nature of the process.

DETERMINATION OF THE THICKNESS OF THE COMPONENTS OF A DOUBLE-LAYER NICKEL-CHROMIUM COATING BY MAGNETIC PONDEROMOTIVE METHOD WITH UNILATERAL ACCESS TO THE CONTROLLED SURFACE

The application of thick-layer nickel (up to 700 μm) and chromium (up to 200 μm) coatings has been widely used to give the combustion chamber of a liquid-propellant rocket engine the required operational properties. The main parameter that determines the ability of a coating to fulfill its function is its thickness and uniformity of its distribution. The main problem of current nondestructive methods for determining the thickness of coatings under consideration is that they can be used only at the stage of production of rocket engineering products, when there is an access to the product from the side of the inner wall of the combustion chamber before and after applying a chromium coating to the nickel sublayer. However, when an already finished product arrives at subsequent stages of assembly to another enterprise, there is often a need of incoming control of the thicknesses of coatings from nickel and chromium. In this case, it is not possible to apply existing control techniques to a finished product, or the use of these techniques leads to unacceptable errors in the results of measurements. The goal of the research was to develop a technique for nondestructive determination of the thickness of each component of the two-layer nickel-chromium coating by the magnetic ponderomotive method under conditions of unilateral access to the finished product from the side of the chromium coating.A new technique for nondestructive determination of the thicknesses of nickel and chromium coatings of the double-layer structure on a finished product without a priori data on the properties or thicknesses of these coatings or a product in general is proposed using a magnetic ponderomotive method.This newly developed technique is implemented in the thickness gauge TEP-XN1 of double-layer nickel- chromium coatings, which is successfully used by enterprises of the rocket and space industry of the Russian Federation.

Illumination effect on the structural and optical properties of nano meso nickel (II) tetraphenyl-21H, 23H-porphyrin films induces new two hours photo bleached optical sensor

250nm thickness of meso nickel (II) tetraphenyl-21H, 23H-porphyrin, NiTPP films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique on a quartz substrate. The prepared films were illuminated for 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, 240, 360 and 420min. Films of 120 and 240min of illumination time had been affected while others had no response. The as prepared meso NiTPP films are amorphous and the illuminated one are crystalline with amorphous background included within nano scale. The illuminated films were accompanied by photo bleaching effect. Two gaps could be distinguished; indirect optical gap,Egiopt and the fundamental energy gap, Eg. Optical parameters; refractive index, absorption coefficient, single-oscillator energy, dispersion energy, Lattice dielectric constant, the ratio of the carrier concentration to the effective mass, optical conductivity and energy loss function were studied. All mentioned parameters were affected by the illumination time. The response of nano meso NiTPP films to the mention illumination time has pulse shape, so it is recommended to be used as optical sensor.

Synthesis and High-Frequency Absorption Property of Flower-Like Nickel-Ferrite Composites

Three-dimensional flower-like nickel-ferrite composites were successfully synthesized via decomposition of the nickel-iron alkoxide precursors by varying the ratio of iron and nickel ion in the solution. The overall morphology and size of the particles had no obvious change compared with the precursors. The high-frequency absorption properties of the composites were investigated in a frequency range of 2-18 GHz. The reflection loss and bandwidth varied with the nickel ratio and thicknesses of the compositions, showing valuable prospect in high-frequency wave attenuation. The wave absorbing mechanism was also discussed, which could be attributed to the dielectric loss, magnetic loss, and the synergetic effect.

Influence of Nickel Thickness and Annealing Time on the Mechanical Properties of Intermetallic Compounds Formed between Cu-Sn Solder and Substrate

Influence of Nickel Thickness and Annealing Time on the Mechanical Properties of Intermetallic Compounds Formed between Cu-Sn Solder and Substrate

Hydrogen sorption by Ni-coated titanium alloy VT1-0

Sorption properties of titanium alloy VT1-0 coated by nickel layer using dc magnetron sputtering were investigated in this paper. The crystalline structure of the coating as well as evaluation of its thickness was analyzed by X-ray diffraction in grazing incidence geometry. It was revealed that the nickel coating significantly increases the hydrogen sorption rate of titanium alloy compared to pure titanium covered with its original oxide layer. Hydrogen sorption rate reduces approximately from 10−3 to 10−4 wt.%/s with increasing the nickel thickness from 1 to 2.6 μm, respectively. Hydrogen sorption kinetics strongly depends on the hydrogenation parameters. The increase of both temperature in the range of 350–550 °C and hydrogen pressure from 1 to 2 atm leads to increase of hydrogen sorption rate.

Selected properties of galvanic coatings shaped using thermal drilling technology

The paper presents the investigations of mechanical properties and microstructure of materials formed by thermal drilling process (Flow drill). The aim of this study was to determine the microstructure of the surface layers produced using galvanic method on the low-carbon steel after formed this layer using thermal drilling technology. The coatings of copper and nickel thicknesses of 5, 10 and 15 μm were applied. Microstructure, chemical composition and microhardness was study. It was found the possibility of forming galvanic coatings using thermal drilling technology and change in chemical composition of treated material.

Microstructural development of prior nickel coated hot dipped galvanised coatings

Hot dip galvanising of steel is an age old process to protect the steel substrate from corrosion owing to the sacrificial protection from zinc. The galvanised coating quality and performance can be further improved by addition of other alloying elements in molten metal bath or by using prior coatings on the steel substrate. In the present study pure nickel was electrodeposited on Interstitial Free (IF) steel substrate, which was then galvanised. The microstructural evolution of different phases was studied as a function of prior nickel coating thickness and time of galvanising. Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy (GDOES) was employed to find out the elemental concentration depth profile and the overall thickness of galvanised coatings. Cross sectional Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) results revealed the morphology of different phase layers. Additionally, cross sectional elemental mappings were generated using Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA) and Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy (WDS). Different coating phases were identified by grazing angle X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. The hardness and modulus of individual Ni-Zn phases were obtained from nano indentation method. It was found that application of a prior nickel coating drastically reduced the coating thickness as compared to conventional galvanised coatings. Moreover beyond a certain thickness of prior nickel coating, Ni-Zn phases rather than the Fe-Zn phases, were formed. The dissolution behaviour of nickel in molten zinc bath and subsequent Ni-Zn phase transformation was computed considering the Wagner's approach of integrated diffusion coefficient. For lower time of galvanising the calculated phase layer thicknesses were in well accordance with the experimental data. The hardness of overlay zinc was the least among different phase layers with an increasing trend in nickel rich phases towards the interface.

Micro Manipulation Using Magnetic Microrobots

When developing microscale robotic systems it is desired that they are capable of performing microscale tasks such as small scale manipulation and transport. In this paper, we demonstrate the transport of microscale objects using single or multiple microrobots in low Reynolds number fluidic environment. The microrobot is composed of a ‘U’ shaped SU-8 body, coated on one side with nickel. Once the nickel coating is magnetized, the motion of the microrobots can be driven by external magnetic fields. To invoke different responses from two microrobots under a global magnetic field, two batches of microrobots were fabricated with different thicknesses of nickel coating as a way to promote heterogeneity within the microrobot population. The heterogeneity in magnetic content induces different spatial and temporal responses under the same control input, resulting in differences in movement speed. The nickel coated microstructure is manually controlled through a user interface developed using C++. This paper presents a control strategy to navigate the microrobots by controlling the direction and strength of externally applied magnetic field, as well as orientation of the microrobots based on their polarity. In addition, multiple microrobots are used to perform transport tasks.

Manipulation of Nanoscale 3 Dimensional Architecture: Graphitic Carbon/Nickel Core-Shell Structured Nanoparticles Dispersed on Carbon Black Support

Graphitic carbon and nickel core-shell structured nanoparticle was designed as a high surface area carbon with enhanced crystallinity and it was achieved by facile synthetic route. Nickel nanoparticle was directly deposited on mechanically agitating carbon black nanoparticle. After that, Ni/C was heated at high temperature and then cooled to room temperature. As a result, graphitic carbon layer covered Ni nanoparticles dispersed on carbon nanoparticle was obtained. In the suggested synthetic route, Ni acted as carbon transporter from support carbon black to surface graphite and also catalyst for graphitic layer on Ni surface by dissolution-precipitation reaction. Morphological evolution from the carbon black nanoparticle to graphitic carbon and nickel core-shell nanoparticle was shown. In addition, phase change of cored nickel nanoparticle and thickness of newly precipitated graphitic carbon layer were investigated. This study was focused on the validation for the particle design and however, it could be deduced that morphology and crystallinity of GC/Ni core-shell nanoparticle are manipulated by Ni content and heat treatment temperature.

Effect of laser modification of B–Ni complex layer on wear resistance and microhardness

Abstract The paper presents the results of microstructure observations, microhardness measurements and wear resistance tests of B–Ni complex layers. Boronickelizing is a three-step process of layer production on metallic substrate. Nickel modified boronized layers were called ‘boronickelized’. Nickel plating was applied first and, as a result, nickel coatings with a varying thickness were obtained. Diffusion boronizing was carried out as a second step. Boronickelized layer was formed following the merger of galvanic and diffusion processes. In the third step the galvanic-diffusion boronickelized layer was obtained by remelting it with a CO 2 laser beam. Galvanic-diffusion boronickelized layer had a dual-zone microstructure. The first zone was continuous and nickel-enriched, and characterized by reduced microhardness, whereas the second zone was characterized by needle-shaped microstructure, with microhardness similar to Fe 2 B iron borides. After laser modification steel specimens with the boronickelized layer consisted of remelted zone (MZ), heat affected zone (HAZ), and substrate. It was found that increasing the thickness of nickel coating leads to decreasing the microhardness of the remelted zone. Increasing thickness of nickel coating causes the reduction of wear resistance of boronickelized layer modified by laser beam. The application of a nickel coating thicker than 20 µm causes incomplete remelting of needle-shaped microstructure of boronickelized layer.

Long term stability of copper front side contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells

In this work the long term stability of silicon solar cells with a copper front side metallization based on a fine-line screen-printed silver seed-layer, a plated nickel diffusion barrier, a plated copper conductive layer and a silver capping is investigated in detail. Silicon nitride layers deposited by PECVD or sputtering effectively hinder copper diffusion, which might occur e.g. at contact edges. To investigate the plated nickel diffusion barrier, fast degradation of full size 156×156mm² cells at elevated temperatures on hotplates and module degradation in the climate chamber executing a damp heat test were performed. Plated nickel thickness influences the degradation speed on cell level. On module level, only the cell without diffusion barrier shows a degradation of 1.2% rel. in efficiency (IEC criteria passed) after 1500h damp heat test (85°C, 85% r.h.). The cells with diffusion barrier do not show any degradation. Comparison of cell and module results indicate that fast degradation on hotplates at cell level gives a reasonable first estimate regarding cell degradation due to copper diffusion.

Temperature effect on the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and core–shell Ni nanoparticle by thermal CVD

The synthesis of carbon nanostructures has been studied for the past two decades, not only for their excellent electrical, physical and thermal properties but also due to their potential applications on different kinds of sciences, including medical and biological ones. In this sense, the CVD technique has shown very good results in terms of quality and quantity in the synthesis of these nanostructures. Unfortunately, some problems have been presented in the successful fabrication of carbon nanotubes and Ni core–shell nanoparticles in terms of quality, quantity and separation of both nanostructures. For this reason, in this work carbon nanostructures were synthetized by CVD utilizing CH4 as the carbon precursor gas, on Ni/SiO2 catalytic substrates with different nickel thicknesses (15, 10, 5, 2nm), at different temperatures (900°C, 800°C, 700°C). The samples were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, SEM and TEM; the results indicate a majority formation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) at lower temperatures and Ni thickness, and a formation of Ni core–shell nanoparticles at higher temperatures, leaving a total control on the process in order to obtain both nanostructures only with a few variation of the temperature and avoiding the separation post-process.

The role of coercivity and dislocations for films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Understanding and controlling macroscopic quantities directly associated with a random field, such as the coercive field Hc and dislocations in magnetic materials, is important for many applications that include films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Here, using a model system with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, Cu/Ni/Cu, we show that Hc in double 4 nm thick Ni films is about 0.65 times the value obtained for the single Ni film, a fact that can be understood if the propagation of misfit dislocations is not transmitted to the second magnetic block, implying that its statistical distribution remains unchanged whereas the magnetic driving force increases with the nickel thickness. This interpretation is based on the direct measurement of the in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameters of the Ni blocks by the extended x-ray absorption fine structure method, a chemically selective technique tuned to probe exclusively the environment of the Ni atoms. With this finding and applying the rigid domain walls model, the Hc ratio between double and single Ni films is calculated, yielding a value of 0.71.

Modeling and magnetoelectric properties of laminate composite of nickel plate and piezoelectric multilayer vibrator

A magnetoelectric theoretical model combing piezoelectric and piezomagnetic parts about the longitudinal vibration was proposed for the laminate composite based on equivalent circuit. The model shows that the magnetoelectric voltage is relative to the thickness ratio, total thickness, frequency and loss. A simple laminate magnetoelectric composite was prepared by bonding a nickel plate and a multilayer piezoelectric vibrator together for the experimental research. The multilayer vibrator enjoys high capacitance, large effective area and low thickness, leading to a high magnetic field sensitivity of 1 mOe at the magnetoelectric field coefficient of 2.58 V/cmOe in the simple composite with nickel thickness of 0.2 mm. The model fits the resonance frequency well with the experimental results. Numerical calculation well predicates the magnetoelectric experimental behaviors, presenting a magnetoelectric maximum at about the thickness ratio 0.3 between the nickel plate and multilayer vibrators. This approach provides a method for the magnetoelectric application.

Development of Mixed-Conducting Membranes for Hydrogen Separation

As the clean energy demands of the world continue to increase, so too will the use of hydrogen containing fuels. For harvesting “green” energy, hydrogen of sufficient purity will need to be extracted either from hydrogen-rich fuel sources or post-processing flue gases, requiring efficient separation of hydrogen from the many byproducts that arise from hydrogen production. This pure hydrogen can then be utilized for various power generation processes. While there are many different materials to be chosen as membrane constituents for this separation, proton-conducting ceramics represent a particularly appealing option for purification of hydrogen as a fuel source of solid oxide fuel cells. In these applications, the relatively high operating temperature of the fuel cell allows the integration of ceramic membranes with promising proton conductivity that is higher than or comparable to other hydrogen separation material systems. Additionally, these proton conductors need to attain high permeation rates with low fabrication costs[1]. Recently, a ceramic electrolyte composed of BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3-d (BZCYYb) has demonstrated high proton conductivity that has spurred research interest on its application in ceramic electrolyte and hydrogen membrane fields. [2]. In this work, we examine two main features of membrane performance, optimal hydrogen flux of the membrane and improved microstructure through scalable manufacturing techniques.The membrane consists of a Ni-BZCYYb dense layer supported by a porous Ni-BZCYYb. The first part of the work identifies the optimal hydrogen flux through variation of the nickel content in an asymmetric dense Ni-BZCYYb pellet. The determination of the transference number for the ceramic phase allows us to optimize the electrical conductivity brought on by the nickel. The hydrogen flux through the Ni-BZCYYb was determined as a function of membrane thickness and hydrogen partial pressure. The hydrogen flux was determined by using a mass spectrometer, which correlates the measured hydrogen partial pressure to amount of hydrogen present in a known sweeping gas atmosphere. Results have shown a hydrogen flux of 0.714 ml/cm2min under 100% hydrogen at 750˚C.The microstructure also plays an important role in the performance of an asymmetric permeation membrane. For dense ceramic membranes, the ohmic permeation resistance from the proton conduction is inversely proportional to the thickness of the membrane. By using a tape-cast method, the thickness of the dense layer can be tailored down to about 10 microns. The results demonstrate an optimized membrane in terms of nickel content and thickness of asymmetric dense/porous layers. This demonstrates the ability to fabricate a cermet hydrogen permeation membrane using a large-scale, industry method.Further, various catalysts that may enhance hydrogen adsorption, dissociation, and oxidation on the surface of the hydrogen separation membranes are also explored and will discussed in the presentation.