The effect of substrate on the microstructure and tensile properties of electrodeposited nanocrystalline nickel

Nanocrystalline nickel was fabricated on copper substrates using electrodeposition techniques. The microstructure and the crystallographic texture of the copper substrate were varied by cold rolling and subsequent annealing. This study revealed that the annealed copper substrates result in nickel deposits with finer grain sizes than the cold-rolled substrates do. This difference is suggested to be associated with the change in planar texture, which is expected to affect the nucleation rate of crystals on the substrate. The results of this study suggest that the size of crystals formed immediately on the substrate affects the size of the grains through the thickness of deposits. Tensile properties were found to depend on the average grain size, the grain size distribution, and the co-deposition of hydrogen.