TEM INVESTIGATION OF INITIATION OF ELECTROLESS NICKEL DEPOSITION ON PURE IRON

In this paper, the nucleation and the growth of electroless nickel pla ting on pure iron were investigated by TEM. The results show that the initiation is inhomogeneous and its structure is crystalline and coher ent with the substrate to some degree. From the composition depth dist ribution measured by AES, the initial crystalline structure is determi ned by its composition (phosphorus content) and there exists a process of dissolution of Fe substrate folio wed by codeposition of the disso lved Fe2+ ions with Ni, P during initiation.