DC electrodeposition of nanocrystalline Nickel and its texture

In this paper, nanocrystalline nickel was electrodeposited using direct current and rotating electrodes. A Watt's bath containing saccharin as a grain refiner was used. The microhardness of deposits was studied and maximum hardness was found to be 620 HV. X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests were carried out to study grain size and texture. The texture of the deposits were changed from [220], [200], and [111] for microcrystalline nickel to [111] and [200] double fiber texture in nanocrystalline nickel. The minimum grain size of the deposit was 14 nm. Morphological studies by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) exhibited a smooth morphology for nanocrystalline nickel, while it was rough for microcrystalline nickel. In addition, the effects of saccharin concentration, cathode rotation speed, and current density on microhardness, grain size, and morphology of deposits were studied.