D. Dietrich, A. Eilert, D. Nickel, T. Lampke
February 25, 2016
Abstract
The knowledge of the particle content is essential for the improvement of nano-composites, for instance with respect to mechanical strengthening. However, the demand of evaluating the fraction of nano-diamonds in Ni-P coatings, i. e. nano-sized light element particles in a heavy metal alloy matrix is a crucial task. Results obtained by means of high performance wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and quantitative metallography are compared. On the basis of calculated fractions of incorporated particles as a function of their size and distance, the differing results are discussed. Best confidence has been achieved for composites with a fairly uniform particle distribution providing best features for application as functional materials in any case. The particle fraction can be provided at least as an approximate range regardless of the applied method.