Nanostructured Fe-Pd thin films with about 30 at.% Pd have been successfully synthesized on the substrates of Pt buffer layer/Cr seed layer/Si by an electrodeposition process from a plating bath containing ammonium tartrate, citric acid and ammonia solution as complexing agents. Results clearly show that the as-deposited films with body-centered cubic structure were transformed into face-centered cubic structure by heating at 900℃ for 45min followed by quenching into iced water. The in situ X-ray diffraction analysis results indicate that the quenched film with 29.8 at.% Pd undergoes a reversible thermoelastic austenite-to-martensite transformation with a narrow temperature hysteresis and a martensite transformation temperature of about -30℃. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of electrodeposition for synthesizing nanostructured Fe-Pd thin films for the application of low-temperature-type thermoelastic shape memory alloys.

The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs, mean diameter: 100-200nm) with nickel-phosphorous (Ni-P) coatings were obtained by an electroless deposition process. To prepare the MWCNTs covered with continual Ni-P layers, a pre-treatment procedure comprised of acid-cleaning, sensitization and activation has been developed. The resulting MWCNTs have a uniform distribution of the Ni-P layers coated on the MWCNTs with the fibrous appearance maintained. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed that the as-coated MWCNTs were comprised of the amorphous Ni-P layers and inner carbon nanotubes covered with the Ni-P layers. These amorphous Ni-P-coated MWCNTs were used as precursors for preparing MWCNTs with nanocrystalline Ni-P(crystalline Ni and Ni3P intermetallic compound) layers by the heattreatment above 400℃, which were determined by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and XRD studies. The results of this work provide an effective electrochemical method for preparing powdery MWCNTs with Ni-P layer as new composite materials from the aqueous solution.

Nickel-carbon nanofiber composites were synthesized by means of pulse-reverse (PR) electrodeposition technique from a standard Watts nickel plating bath using a cationic polymer as the dispersing agent of nanofibers. The obtained composites were characterized by electron probe X-ray microanalyzer, field-emission scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer to demonstrate their microstructures. Results clearly showed that the composites were formed as the continuous films filled by a large amount of individual Ni-coated nanofibers with a closely packed arrangement. The PR electrodeposition enhanced the carbon nanofiber concentration compared to the DC electrodeposition in the nickel-carbon nanofiber composites. The morphological features and the composition of composites exhibited controllable characters by selectively modulating the PR electrodeposition parameters.

Nanostructured L1 0 Co-Pt thin films with high perpendicular coercivity have been successfully synthesized on the substrate of Pt buffer layer/Cr seed layer/Si(0 0 1) by an electrodeposition process from a novel plating bath containing ammonium tartrate and ammonia solution as complexing agent and by subsequent annealing. Results show that the alloy compositions can be readily controlled by adjusting the metal ions ratio in the plating bath and applied current density. The as-deposited films with nanocrystalline structure contain a disordered face-central cubic (fcc) structure. By annealing above 600℃, the films with the disordered phase structure transform to L1 0 ordered phase structure. The nanostructured L1 0 ordered Co-Pt thin films exhibit high perpendicular coercivity comparable to traditional magnetic recording media. The present synthesis provides a unique and effective electrochemical means for inexpensively preparing L1 0 ordered Co-Pt thin films as new magnetic recording media from the aqueous solution.