Inverse Hall-Petch relation of nanostructured Ni films prepared by electrodeposition

We report the morphology, texture, mechanical properties of Ni films with nanosized grains prepared by electrodeposition as a function of current density. With an increase in current density, the morphology of the nanostructured films was greatly affected and the textures changed from face-centered cubic (1 1 1)- to (2 0 0)-orientation. Consequently, the textural and microstructural alteration exerted strong influence on the hardness of the films, leading to decrease in the hardness (in particular, the inverse Hall-Petch relation) as current density increased, attributed to the distribution of colonies of grain agglomerate and the variation of directional tensile strength.