Stimulation of Rare Earths in Quartz Optical Fiber Surface Metallization by Electroless Plating and Electroplating

This research aims to use several kind of rare earth oxides, such as Nd2O3, Yb2O3, Ce2O3 and La2O3, to improve the electroless plating and electroplating processes for surface metallization of quartz optical fiber (silicon fiber) for its practical uses. The effects of the rare earth oxides on the deposition rate of Ni-P-B, the stability of the plating solution and the surface property of the film were investigated and the comparisons of their behaviours were made. The effects of rare earth oxide of La2O3 on the hardness and surface property of the Ni film prepared by electroplating process were studied. The surface morphonogies, compositions and hardness of the Ni-P-B and Ni films were characterized and analyzed by SEM, MSM, ICP and DIMHM, respectively. The experimental results showed that Ce2O3 with the concentration of 4 mg·L-1 was the best one among the four rare earth oxides with suitable concentrations in increasing the deposition rate, enhancing the stability of the electroless plating solution and improving the surface property of the Ni-P-B film. The improvements of the hardness and surface property of the Ni film prepared by electroplating with adding La2O3 were discovered. No obvious influences of Ce2O3 and La2O3 on the compositions of Ni-P-B and Ce free in the Ni-P-B film were found because of its much more nagative deposition potential than those of the used reducing agents in this experiment. The total diameter of the quartz optical fiber with deposited Ni-P-B film and Ni film was about 1.7 mm, which could be satisfactorily for the practical uses of quartz optical fiber in many fields.

A NEW METHOD FOR MEASURING LONG-TERMCREEP DEFORMATION IN A SMALL REGION

Creep deformation localization is generally found in structures at high temperamture,typically in weldments. As the heat affected zone (HAZ) in a weldment is very narrow, deformation in HAZ region can hardly be measured by conventional displacement gauge. A new method for measuring long-term local creep deformation was developed by quartz optical fiber and technique of digital image analysis. The creep deformations of base metal, weld metal and HAZ in weldments are thereby determined with crossweld specimens.

Preparation and Characterization of Nanosized CeO_2/γ-Al_2O_3 Composite Supports

The main purpose of this article is to use rare earths to modify the electroless plating process for metallizing the surface of quartz optical fibers (silicon fibers). The effects of Yb, Ce and La on the deposition rate of Ni-P, the stability of plating solution and the surface structure of Ni-P film were investigated and their mechanisms were discussed. The surface morphonogies and compositions of the Ni-P films were characterized and analyzed by SEM, MSM, XRD and ESM, respectively. The experimental results showed that Ce(SO4)2 with concentration of 40 mg·L-1 was proved to be the best choice for increasing the deposition rate, enhancing the stability of plating solution and improving the quality of deposited Ni-P film compared with the other two kind of rare earths. The detections of ESM exhibited no effect of Ce on film compositions and no Ce deposition being found in the film prepared by electroless plating with adding Ce because of its much more negative deposition potential than those of the reducing agents used in the experiment. The addition of Ce resulted in a transmission of the film surface structure from crystal structure into a microcrystallitic structure. The Ni-P film with thickness of about 45 μm prepared using electroless plating by adding Ce(SO4)2 with concentration of 40 mg·L-1 had good quality, which will be satisfactorily for the next Ni deposition by electroplating.