Fabrication of metal coated carbon nanotubes by electroless deposition for improved wettability with molten aluminum

Abstract

Ni-P alloy coated and Au/Ni-P alloy double-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated using electroless plating. Three types of electroless Ni-P alloy plating baths were prepared to coat the MWCNTs with Ni-P alloy films of varying phosphorus content. Electroless gold coating of the Ni-P alloy coated MWCNTs was also carried out using a non-cyanide bath. The microstructures of the coatings on the MWCNTs were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The wettability of the metal-coated MWCNTs with molten aluminum was also evaluated. MWCNTs coated with Ni-P alloy films containing 9-25 at.% phosphorus content were fabricated by electroless deposition. Electroless gold deposition on the Ni-P alloy coated MWCNTs to form Au/Ni-P alloy double-coated MWCNTs was also possible. The wettability of the metal-coated MWCNTs with molten aluminum was significantly improved compared to that of non-coated MWCNTs. The coating metals of the MWCNTs dissolved into the molten aluminum, resulting in good wettability between the MWCNTs and molten aluminum and dispersion of the resulting bare MWCNTs in the aluminum matrix. The dissolved coating metals formed stable compounds with molten aluminum.

Development of an AlCl3-Urea Ionic Liquid for the Electroless Deposition of Aluminum on Carbon Nanotubes

“…The first is the acid functionalization of CNTs, which was found to be unnecessary. The second is the use of a one-step colloidal Pd–Sn catalyzation approach instead of the two-step stannous chloride and palladium chloride solutions approach for surface activation. ,,,, Accordingly, the processing time was reduced significantly.…”

“…The deposition of aluminum has been the subject of intense investigations in the past decade. Aluminum is a light metal of outstanding electric and thermal conductivities, which lead to many promising applications including electronic circuits, semiconductor devices, memory devices, compact disks, composite materials for structural applications, and many more. − …”

“…The use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a reinforcement phase in aluminum matrix composites suffers from several challenges, namely, the poor wettability and the nonuniform dispersion of CNTs in the aluminum matrix. ,,− Electroless deposition of intermediate layers such as nickel, copper, and silver on CNTs was found to improve their dispersion and wettability in molten aluminum. ,,,,− Although coating CNTs with aluminum prior to their introduction in the aluminum matrix would avoid undesirable alloying effects that can occur when other metals are used, only minor efforts were conducted in this regard. Trials to coat CNTs with aluminum using normal electroplating were done.…”

Oscillations of Fermi Energy of a Cylindrical Metal Nanoshell

“…Ó сучасних нанотехнологіях широко використовують металеві наночастинки та нанодроти. Íаступним кроком стало одержання і застосування композитних наноструктур, серед яких окреме місце посідають металеві нанотрубки [1][2][3][4]. Поширеним різновидом таких нанотрубок є вуглецеві нанотрубки з металевим покриттям [5][6][7][8][9], а також нанотрубки (нанооболонки) шляхетних металів, що використовуються як складові частини лазерів, біосенсорів та інших пристроїв [10].…”

Synthesis of CNT-reinforced AZ31 magnesium alloy composites with uniformly distributed CNTs

“…Another challenge is to control the interfacial bonding between the CNTs and the metal matrix because of the weak wettability between carbon and metals, including magnesium. Many techniques for dispersing CNTs in metal matrixes such as ultrasonic dispersion, stir melting, ball milling [17][18][19], surfactants [20,21] and chemical coating [22,23] have been developed. However, these methods are not effective in creating a uniform distribution of CNTs in molten metals.…”