The study of electroless deposition of nickel on graphite fibers

An electroless deposition technique was developed to coat nickel on graphit e fibers with high nickel deposition rate and bath stability. The effect of chemical composition of the coating bath on nickel deposition rate was als o studied. It was found practicable to coat a uniform and continuous nickel layer on graphite fiber surface by this technique. The coating rate was co ntrolled mainly by the concentration of HCHO and NaOH, and the stability of the coating bath, potassium sodium tartrate. Tensile strength tests showed that the ultimate tensile strength of coated fibers was a little less than that of uncoated ones. In addition, the nickel coated graphite fibers were successively incorporated into aluminum matrix by pressure infiltration ro ute, and the microstructure of the resulted composite had uniform distribut ion of the coated fibers without appreciable interfacial reactions between fiber and the aluminum matrix. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.