Effects of nickel coating thickness on electric properties of nickel/carbon hybrid fibers

In this work, nickel/carbon hybrid fibers were prepared by the electrolytic plating on carbon fibers in order to improve electric conductivity of the carbon fibers; the effects of nickel content and coating thickness on the electric conductivity of the fibers were studied. The structural properties and surface morphologies of the hybrid fibers were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The electric conductivity of the fibers was measured using a 4-point probe method. As for experimental results, it was observed that the electric conductivity of the nickel/carbon hybrid fibers was dramatically increased in the presence of metallic nickel particles, with the best result in the condition of over 0.75 μm of the thickness due to the minimization of the inner pores.