Electrodeposition Processing of Porous Cu/Ni Composites and Their Performance

Porous Cu/Ni composites with uniform pore distribution were prepared by electrodeposion and its coating layer number was from 2 to 5. The effects of processing parameters on both microstructure and mechanical properties were studied. Results show that the microstructure morphology and characteristic parameters of porous Cu/Ni composites are strongly dependent on the coating layer number. As the coating layer number increases, the pore diameter and porosity decrease while the specific surface area and apparent density increase. The solid solution forms at the Cu and Ni interface due to the atomic diffusion. The mechanical properties of the composites are remarkably enhanced with the increase of coating layer number. As the coating layer number increases to 5 the compressive strength increases from 246 kPa to 1736 kPa and Young's modulus 3.94 MPa to 19.02 MPa. Moreover, the energy absorption of per unit volume increases from 59.03 Pa.m to 824.51 Pa.m.