Structure and mechanical properties of iron foil electrodeposited in super gravity field

The effects of super gravity field on the structure and the mechanical properties of iron foils electrodeposited were investigated by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that the iron foils with finer grains and smoother surfaces were obtained in the super gravity field. The roughness was reduced from 21 nm to 6 nm with the increasing gravity coefficient (G) from 1 to 354. The preferred orientation of (110) plane was inhibited by the super gravity field, which may be due to the effect of the enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction on the surface energy of the iron's various crystal planes in the super gravity field. Consequently, both hardness and tensile strength were improved for the iron foils deposited in the super gravity field. The tensile strength was increased from 264 MPa to 719 MPa, and the hardness was increased from 176 Hv to 478 Hv when G value increased from 1 to 354. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.