Preparation, Characterization, and Millimeter Wave Attenuation of Carbon Fibers Coated with Ni-Cu-P and Ni-Co-P Alloys

摘要

Composite carbon fibers (CFs) coated with Ni-X-P (X = Cu, Co, none) alloys were prepared by electroless plating. The morphology, crystal structure, elemental composition, and millimeter wave (MMW) attenuation performance of the alloy-coated CFs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive spectrometry, and microwave attenuation. CFs were coated with a layer of alloy particles. The P content in the Ni-Cu-P or Ni-Co-P-coated alloy was lower than that in the Ni-P alloy, and coating alloy Ni-P was amorphous. Coating alloys exhibited crystal characteristics after Cu or Co introduction. MMW-attenuation performance of alloy-coated CFs showed that the 3 and 8 mm wave-attenuation effects of CF/Ni-Cu-P and CF/Ni-Co-P were better than those of CF/Ni-P and CFs. The 8 mm wave-attenuation values and their increases were larger than those of the 3 mm wave. The MMW-attenuation performance is attributable to the alloy bulk resistivity and P content. The 3 mm wave-attenuation effects of wavelength-coated CF samples were slightly larger than those of the half wavelength samples. An optimal weight gain value existed for the MMW-attenuation performance of alloy-coated CFs.