Electrodeposition of macroporous nickel coating by employing nano-silica as template

A novel method of preparing the macrporous nickel coating was described. The macrporous nickel coating was fabricated by employing nano-silica as the template. The effects of technological conditions and the concentration of the additives on the surface quality of coating were investigated, the nano-silica was characterized transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and laser particle size analyzer, and the macrporous nickel coating was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results showed that nano-silica particles were about 100 nm, the optimal technological conditions of electrodepositing nickel were that the cathode current density was 12 A/dm2, the temperature was 30 degrees C and the pH value was 2.0, the concentration of lauryl sodium sulfate was 0.15 g/L and the concentration of glucide was 3 g/L, the macrporous nickel coating was obtained when the adding nano-SiO2 content in the electroplating bath was 6 g/L and its structure was crystalline.