Influence of the surface properties of silicon carbide on the process of SiC particles codeposition with nickel

The influence of different treatment of SiC particle surface on the rate of codeposition of SiC particles with nickel in the process of SiC/Ni composite preparation was investigated. The hydrophobicity of SiC surface was characterized by contact angle measurements in the system SiC/liquid (water or plating bath)/air. Simultaneously the surface oxidation of SiC was investigated by XPS. The hydrophobic properties of SiC and its susceptibility to codeposition with nickel were compared with those of silica, a strongly hydrophilic substance. It was found that oxidation of the SiC surface, also due to the contact of its surface with plating bath, decreases significantly its hydrophobicity, diminishing at the same time the ratio of codeposition with nickel. However SiC does not oxidize easily and aggressive oxidation (long contact with concentrated H2O2 solution) is required to attain the hydrophilicity of the surface comparable to silica. At moderate oxidizing conditions, intermediate oxidation products (SiOxCy) appear at the SiC surface, which make the surface only partly hydrophilic.