Abstract: NiP and NiPB amorphous alloys were prepared by chemical reduction method using nickel hypophosphite as reactant. Their physical properties were characterized by ICP, XRD and TEM. The effect of preparation conditions such as temperature, pH value, concentration of the reactants and additives on the yield and composition of NiP amorphous alloy was studied. The NiP amorphous alloy particle was found to be spherical and its average particle size was about 30 nm at 300 K. The effect of the concentration and mole ratio of the reactants on the composition of NiPB amorphous alloy was also studied. The average particle size of NiPB amorphous alloy (sample 5) was about 15 nm. It was convenient to obtain NiPB amorphous alloy with expected composition by changing the initial concentration and the mole ratio of the reactants.

Key words: Nickel hypophosphate, Chemical reduction, Nickel-phosphorus amorphous alloy, Nickel-phosphorus-boron amorphous alloy