Electroless coating of Permalloy powder and DC-resistivity of alloy composites

A high-resistivity coating of Permalloy (Ni–17.81Fe–1.97Mo wt.%) powders for soft magnetic composites, SMC, was developed and characterized. The coating was made using the electroless plating method employing an aqueous solution of sodium and nickel phosphates. The chemical process led to the formation of a layer up to 1 μm thick deposited on each particle surface and composed of a mixture of Ni(OH)2, P2O5 and NaPO3 compounds, as shown by X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and X-ray powder diffraction studies. The effect of coating on electrical DC resistivity was evaluated on SMC obtained mixing the metal, coated or uncoated, and thermoplastic polymer PEEK (polyetheretherketone) powders, pressing the mixture at 800 MPa and heating in air up to melting the polymer (380–410 °C). The SMC made with coated powders showed an increase in resistivity of more than two orders of magnitude compared to that obtained with uncoated powders when the polymer ranged between 0.5 and 1.5 wt.%. This difference prevails in comparison with sintered materials processed at the same pressure and sintering in hydrogen at 1350 °C. Thus, this process would restrict the eddy currents which affect the performance of soft magnetic products for AC applications.