The influence of temperature and grain boundary volume on the resistivity of nanocrystalline nickel

The thermal stability and modes of recrystallisation of nanocrystalline nickel has been observed through a conduction-based non-destructive test. Resistivity measurements have been utilised to quantify grain boundary volume fraction and microstructure. This observation makes clear the distinction of the factors that contribute to resistivity and demonstrates that these contributions are related to microstructure, either directly or in-directly. In static systems, the contribution of ordered grains and low-order grain boundary atomic arrangements in small grained material has been measured and correlated with resistivity. Measurements of in-situ resistivity conducted at high temperature gives changes with time which are related to grain growth, during heat treatment. This shows that resistivity can be used as a technique for observing the microstructure and grain growth of small grained material.