Pulsed co-electrodeposition and characterization of Ni-based nanocomposites reinforced with combustion-synthesized, undoped, tetragonal-ZrO2 particulates

Nanostructured nickel matrix composites reinforced with nanosized, undoped, tetragonal zirconia has been synthesized by cathodic pulsed electrodeposition. The reinforcement is synthesized by the aqueous combustion synthesis route with glycine as the fuel and zirconyl nitrate as the oxidizer. The reinforcement and composite have been characterized by XRD, TEM and SEM coupled with EDS. The microhardness and thermal stability (Kissinger method) of the composite are evaluated. These values are compared with those of pure nickel deposited under the same conditions. The results show that the microhardness of the nickel matrix is enhanced by the presence of the reinforcement from 450 to 575 VHN. Also the strengthening due to grain size effects and dispersion strengthening effect are evaluated individually and the interparticle separation is estimated to be around 85 nm. The volume fraction of the reinforcement is estimated to be 12-15% and the particles are uniformly distributed and monodispersed in the nickel matrix. The thermal stability of the composite is better than that of pure nickel in contrast to some of the reported literature