Improvement in the Electrical Properties of Nickel‐Plated Steel Using Graphitic Carbon Coatings

• Published in: Advanced engineering materials 2019-10, Vol.21 (10), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Mills, Christopher A., Batyrev, Erdni, Jansen, Maurice J. R., Ahmad, Muhammad, Pathan, Tanveerkhan S., Legge, Elizabeth J., Thakur, Digvijay B., Patole, Samson N., Brett, Daniel J. L., Shearing, Paul R., van der Weijde, Hans, Silva, S. Ravi P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: coatings; electrical properties; graphitic carbon; nickel-plated steel; photothermal chemical vapor deposition
• ISSN: 1438-1656; 1527-2648
• DOI: 10.1002/adem.201900408

Thin layers of highly conductive graphitic carbon are deposited onto nickel‐plated steel substrates using a direct photothermal chemical vapor deposition (PTCVD) technique. The coated nickel‐plated steel substrates improve electrical properties (sheet resistance and interfacial contact resistance [ICR]) compared with pristine nickel‐plated steel, which makes it a cost‐effective alternative to stainless steel for steel producers to use in high‐end electrical applications such as energy storage and microelectronics. The coated nickel‐plated steel is found to have ≈10% reduction in sheet resistance and 200 times reduction in ICR (under compression at 140 N cm−2), compared with pristine nickel‐plated steel. ICR is also three times lower than that of a benchmark gold‐coated stainless steel equivalent at the same pressure. The electrical properties of nickel‐plated steel are enhanced by the application of a thin coating of graphitic carbon. Sheet resistance is improved by ≈10% and interfacial contact resistance (ICR) is reduced by 200 times. Such electrically conducting coated steel has the potential for high‐end electrical applications such as energy storage and microelectronics.