CRYSTALLISATION KINETICS AND PHASE TRANSFORMATION BEHAVIOUR OF ELECTROLESS NICKEL-PHOSPHORUS DEPOSIT WITH 6-9wt% PHOSPHORUS CONTENT

1. IntroductionSince the first discovery in 1944 by Brenner and Riddell, electroless nickel-phosphorus(Ni-P) deposit has been widely used in various industries, for example, as surface protec-tive coating, etc., owing to the unique combination of material properties, such as highhardnes8 and remarkable wear and corrosion resistancell'2]. It was reported that the ma-terial properties are determined by the microstructural characteristics of the depositl,3l4].Over the years, various investigat…