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.