The research of preparation and properties of nickel wood composites

Ni wood composites were prepared through hydrothermal synthesis while Ni(Ac)2 as Ni source, N2H4·H2O as reductant, succinic acid (C4H6O4) and DL-malic acid (C4H6O5) as complexing agent. The structure and morphology of the composites were characterized by optical microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical microscope results showed that Ni was distributed uniformly inside the wood cell walls. XRD results indicated that at 44.5° there was Ni(111) diffraction peak. SEM results showed that the nickel particles were laminated structure, the size distribution was quite narrow and the particle size was about 0.5-1μm. The effects of mass fraction of Ni and reaction time on mechanical and electrical properties were studied by analyzing of the universal mechanics experiment and universal avometer. The results of mechanics performance testing showed that the limit of proportion and strength of compression of composites that include 2wt% Ni and reaction time was 12h were increased by 83.42% and 20.65% respectively than original wood. The results of electricity performance testing showed that electric conductivity were increased dramatically compared with original wood and the highest electric conductivity of the composites was 1.25×10-2S/m when the reaction time was 6h and the Ni content was 3wt%.