NiO formation by simple air oxidation of nickel coated carbon fibers

Nickel coated Carbon fibers (NCCF) are produced using a chemical vapor deposition process (CVD). They consists of 6-8 micron diameter carbon fibers which are coated with a 80-nm-thick film of Ni (99.97%) and exhibit good surface properties that make them suitable for applications as nuclear materials detectors and reflectors. Heat treated specimen at 500°C under vacuum are formed only by graphite and nickel, while after air oxidation route, only nanostructured NiO with cubic (NaCl type) structure (a = 0.4195 nm), and average grain size about 30 nm, is present with graphite. Fibers oxidized in air at 500°C during 1 hour are constituted by a layer of NiO containing periodic cracks with a sgmented aspect. These cracks may constitute a thermal barrier. Consequently the deposit NiO so obtained can be considered, in priori as a thermal barriere coating (TBC) which can have various applications. Copyright © 2016 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.