Preparation and magnetic properties of Ni-P-La coating by electroless plating on silicon substrate

Ni-P-La coatings were prepared on Si substrate by electroless plating method under different La content, pH value, plating temperature and plating time. The surface morphology, chemical composition, structure and magnetic properties of coatings were observed and determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results showed that Ni-P-La coating is smooth and uniform with a cellular morphology grown in columnar manner. With the increase of La content, pH value and plating time, the thickness and saturation magnetization of coating are increased continuously, but the stability of plating bath is decreased greatly with La content and pH value. Under higher plating temperature, the thickness and saturation magnetization of coatings are obviously enhanced. But too high plating temperature is harmful to the plating bath and coating. The optimum plating conditions for Ni-P-La coating is La2O3 addition of 10 mg L-1, pH value of 5.0, plating temperature of 75 degrees C and plating time of 45 min. The role of La element is to benefit the deposition of Ni element, promote the formation of Ni phase during the annealing process, and thus improve the magnetic properties of Ni-P-La coating. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.