Effect of alumina particle size on properties of electrolessly deposited composite Ni-P/Al2O3

Abstract

In this study, effect of particle size on morphology, alumina content and hardness of electrolessly deposited composite Ni-P/Al₂O₃ layers was examined with diffrent sizes of codeposited alumina particles. Results on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersed Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and hardness measurements showed that as particles size increased composition of NiP matrix did not change remarkbly e.g the composition of the obtaiend matrix ranged from Ni₉₀P₁₀ to Ni₉₁P₉. Meanwhile, Al₂O₃ content in the composites increased as particle size decreased. As a result, hardness of the obtained layers increased with decreasing particle size and maximum hardness was achieved with particle size of 0.6mm.