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Nickel-coated carbon nanofibers have been prepared by an electroless deposition process. The carbon nanofibers were pre-treated prior to the nickel electroless deposition. Polyacrylic acid was used to disperse carbon nanofibers in the pre-treatment solutions. The carbon nanofibers were coated homogeneously with nickel by the electroless deposition process using an electroplating bath containing sodium hypophosphite as a reducing agent. The process resulted in a powdery-nickel-coated carbon nanofiber material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nickel–carbon nanofiber composites were synthesized by means of pulse-reverse (PR) electrodeposition technique from a standard Watts nickel plating bath using a cationic polymer as the dispersing agent of nanofibers. The obtained composites were characterized by electron probe X-ray microanalyzer, field-emission scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer to demonstrate their microstructures. Results clearly showed that the composites were formed as the continuous films filled by a large amount of individual Ni-coated nanofibers with a closely packed arrangement. The PR electrodeposition enhanced the carbon nanofiber concentration compared to the DC electrodeposition in the nickel–carbon nanofiber composites. The morphological features and the composition of composites exhibited controllable characters by selectively modulating the PR electrodeposition parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]