Corrosion behavior of electrodeposited nickel-based coatings with W, Mo, and TiOx

Abstract

The corrosion behavior of electrodeposited nickel-based coatings with W, Mo, and TiOx as potential catalytic material for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in highly aggressive media, 0.5 M H2SO4 and 6 M KOH, is presented. A wide range of electrochemical and spectroscopic methods have been used, such as linear sweep voltammetry, open-circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to characterize the coatings before and after a residence time of 336 h in the model corrosion environment. The NiW alloy and the NiWTiOx composite coating demonstrate the best corrosion resistance in an acidic environment due to the stable tungstate phase formation (H0.33O3W and H2O4W) on the surface. In alkaline environments, all the systems studied show enviable resistance, but the alloys containing molybdenum stand out.