Electroless Copper Composite Coatings Reinforced With Silicon Carbide And Graphite Particles
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Date
2011-07
Authors
Faraji, Soheila
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
In this work, Cu–P, Cu–P–SiC, Cu–P–Cg and Cu–P–Cg–SiC composite coatings were deposited by means of electroless plating. The effects of pH, temperature and different concentrations of NaH2PO2·H2O, NiSO4·6H2O, silicon carbide (SiC) and graphite (Cg) on the deposition rate and the coating compositions were evaluated and the bath formulation for the Cu–P–Cg–SiC composite coatings was optimised. The corresponding optimal operating parameters for depositing Cu–P–Cg–SiC were found to be pH 9, temperature at 90 ºC, concentrations of NaH2PO2·H2O at 125 g L-1, CuSO4·5H2O at 25 g L-1, NiSO4·6H2O at 3.125 g L-1, SiC at 5 g L-1, Cg at 5 g L-1, C6H5Na3O7·2H2O at 50 g L-1 and H3BO3 at 25 g L-1. The surface morphology of the coatings that were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that Cu particles were uniformly distributed with some Si compounds and Cg particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to characterise the structure and morphology of the coatings. Phases such as Cu, Cu2O, Cu3P, Cu3Si, SiC and Cg were observed from X-ray diffraction patterns and the presence of Cu2O, Cu3P and Cu3Si was confirmed by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) studies. The results demonstrated that SiC and Cg particles have little influence on the phase transition of the coating. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) results of coatings showed that the roughness of the coatings increased with the incorporation of SiC to the matrix of Cu-P coatings and decreased with the incorporation of Cg. Cu–P–Cg–SiC composite coatings showed a moderate roughness between Cu–P–SiC and Cu–P–Cg.
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Keywords
Electroless copper composite coatings reinforced , with silicon carbide and graphite particles