The co-deposition behavior and mechanism of nanodiamond with electrolessly plated nickel films was investigated. Due to the variation of complexing agents, various composite films with 0.9-8.0% nanodiamond were plated from electroless nickel plating baths which contained the same amount of nanodiamond (5.0 g dm(-3)) and sodium hypophosphite. In addition, composite films with 0-14% nanodiamond, semi-brilliant, were successfully fabricated from the bath which contained only citrate as a complexing agent. The plating bath was very simple and was sufficiently stable without any decomposition until termination of the plating reaction occurred due to consumption of the reducing agent. When the adsorbed amount of Ni-complex on the nanodiamond particles was large, a large amount of nanodiamond was co-deposited with the nickel. The results are interpreted to indicate that the adsorbed Ni-complex precipitates the incorporation of nanodiamond particles into the nickel matrix. In addition, incorporation becomes more probable when the adsorbed amount of Ni-complex on the nanodiamond particles was large. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.