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Q&As since 1989
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Nickel Coating on Carbon Fibres
2003
Q. Respected Sir,
I am a mechanical engineer. I am working on fabrication of metal matrix composite (matrix - aluminium, reinforcement - chopped carbon fibres) by stir casting.
I am having a doubt. If you could help me, I will be grateful to you.
Due to the poor wetting of carbon fibres with molten aluminium, I want to do Nickel coating on the carbon fibres.
I know that Chemical vapour deposition or electroplating can be used. But these are very expensive methods.
I just want to know whether the below suggested method can be worked out?
I will make a saturated thick solution of nickel sulphate (nickel sulphate + water) and put the carbon fibres in it. I will keep the carbon fibres in this solution for some hours (5 to 6 hours) . I will remove the carbon fibres coated with nickel in a filter paper and allow it to dry at room temperature and later on use them for further processing.
Will the method suggested by me really work? Please guide me.
Thanking you,
- India
A. I cannot see how your idea will work, but perhaps I am missing something crucial in your process description.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2003
Q. I am looking for some information on coating of Nickel on carbon fiber. Application is to have wetting with Aluminium to make MMC.
Anil Kumarcomposites - Hyderabad, AP, India
2004
A. Nickel Metal may be deposited on Carbon Fibers through heat decomposition of Nickel Carbonyl. Temperatures required are mild, but the Nickel Carbonyl is HIGHLY TOXIC, and therefore must be safely contained.
This process may be referenced at:
www.wikipedia.com (free, public website)
- Hanover, New Jersey, USA
2005
2007
Q. Respected sir,
My 4 friends and I are doing a project on the development of a metal matrix composite of Aluminium (matrix) and Carbon fiber (reinforcement).
We did a few castings by employing several methods like stir casting, sand casting, die casting, etc.
In all these experiments we found that little wetting of carbon fiber takes place with aluminium. In all the cases fiber pull-out resulted.
Even when we tried sand casting by using weaved carbon fiber (fibers weaved on a metal strip with holes), there was no bonding at all between molten aluminium and carbon fibers.
The carbon fibers we use :- one strand of carbon fiber contains 1500 filaments each having 7 micrometer dia.
Is there any method by which we can improve the wettability of the fiber? It would be very helpful if you can help us.
We could know that Li-Al alloy has good wettability with carbon, is that right?
Is there any coating we can employ on carbon fiber like silane coating, Ni coating, Cu coating, etc?
If the 1500 filaments are dispersed and casting is done, will that result in a good composite?
- Calicut, Kerala state , India
Q. We also tried coating of nickel on chopped carbon fibers and we achieved a good coating of nickel on it. But when we did the stir casting with molten aluminum, coated fibers floated on top of the melt. We stirred the mixture up to 500 RPM but it did not mix.
I request Amit and Sarun to respond so that we can do something on this MMC.
Ramesh Gondil
VISHWAKARMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY - Pune India
October 12, 2014
Hi Ramesh. Some of those postings go back many years. It's probably most productive to try to explain what you've learned and what you still need to learn (as you've done very well!), and encourage further input from all, rather than to trying to co-ordinate efforts with particular individuals who posted many years ago. We probably can't reach them, and don't encourage taking our public discussions private, as it disenfranchises the other readers whose curiosity has hopefully been aroused :-)
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 2014
A. Titanium coating on graphite and ceramics has been found to be useful in brazing these materials as it improves wetting properties. It should also help in the present case as Al is used as an alloying element for Ti. PVD techniques can be used for coating. Cost of coating is a different issue.
H.R. Prabhakara - ConsultantBangalore Plasmatek - Bangalore Karnataka India
October 19, 2014
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