Elucidation of the chemical state of phosphorus and boron in crystallographically amorphous nickel electroplates

Chemical state of phosphorus in amorphous Ni–Fe–P electroplates

“…Annealing in vacuum resulting in complete crystallization of electrodeposited coatings has only a small effect on the shape and intensity of the Kβ 2.5 and Kβ″ satellite lines. The same effect was already observed for vtc-XES of chromium carbides and phosphides [23] as well as for nickel phosphides and borides [24]. Experimental data and theoretical simulations of vtc-XES data carried out in [23,24] have shown that the intensity and shapes of the spectral features are much more sensitive to the concentration of metalloids (P, C, B) in the first coordination shell of metal atoms than to periodic crystalline structure.…”

“…In most cases distinguishing of O, N, C, P ligands in the first coordination shell of 3d metals was impossible by other methods. In our recent works we used vtc-XES to elucidate the chemical state of metalloids (P, C, B) in the bulk structure of amorphous Cr and Ni electrodeposits [21][22][23][24]. Vtc-XES demonstrated Kβ″ and Kβ 2,5 features of Cr and Ni corresponding to the presence of high concentration of metal-metalloid covalent bonds similar to those observed in corresponding phosphides, carbides and borides of these metals.…”

“…As to Ni-P coatings, we, unfortunately, had no Ni 3 P sample at our disposal and, correspondingly, no experimental vtc-XES data for this compound. However, we had the theoretically calculated vtc-XES for Ni 3 P which was shown in [24]. Our rough estimates have demonstrated that the replacement of vtc-XES for Ni 2 P by that for Ni 3 P from [24], as in the case of Fe-P coatings, had no substantial effect on the calculated concentration of chemically bonded phosphorus in Ni-P coatings.…”

Micromechanics of Amorphous Metal/Polymer Hybrid Structures with 3D Cellular Architectures: Size Effects, Buckling Behavior, and Energy Absorption Capability

“…These samples were heat treated at 200 °C for 40 min in air after every minute of plating in order to relieve residual stresses and avoid crack formation in the films. The temperature of the heat treatment was chosen to prevent crystallization of the deposited films …”

On the presence of covalently bound phosphorus in amorphous Ni–Co–P and Fe–Co–P electroplates

“…However, it should be noted that it was impossible to unambiguously conclude from XPS data whether metalloid atoms (carbon, phosphorous, boron) are present in these coatings only as components of the corresponding compounds (metal carbides, phosphides, borides) or partially as atoms in their elemental state. We discussed this issue in more detail in [31,32]. So, it is evident that to give the more substantiated answer to the question on the chemical state of metalloids in the considered coatings, one needs methods that directly probe the chemical bond in amorphous samples.…”