Using Nickel Nanopowders with Different Morphologies for Fabrication of Highly Porous Nickel Materials

We study the effects that the morphology of nickel nanopowders obtained by chemical metallurgy, nickel formate thermal decomposition, and wire electrical explosion has on the properties of porous samples fabricated from these nanopowders using the powder metallurgy method. Porous nickel samples are prepared from a mixture of nickel powder (30 vol %) and ammonium bicarbonate (70 vol %) by sintering in a flow of hydrogen at 700°C and under a pressure of 300 MPa. Samples fabricated from the nickel nanopowder obtained by the wire electrical explosion method have the highest total and open (65.8%) porosities. Samples fabricated from the other two types of nickel nanopowders have lower porosity.