Development and Characterization of Electrocodeposited Nickel-Based Composites Coatings

Abstract

The objective of the article is to study the development and characterization of composite coatings using nickel-tungsten carbide (Ni-WC), nickel-silicon carbide (Ni-SiC), nickel-carbon black (Ni-CB), and nickel-carbon nanotube (Ni-CNT) materials using electrocodeposition technique by varying the composition of reinforcements. The electrochemical parameters such as current density, bath temperature, and pH of the solution were maintained at constant levels for all the coating configurations. The composition of the coating and its proportion were studied using x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, respectively. Mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength and microhardness were studied. Morphology of the coatings and fracture surfaces were studied using scanning electron microscope. Improvement in mechanical properties of composite coatings was found due to the reduction in crystalline size of the composites coatings. Although loading of carbon nanotube was the least, it also shows good mechanical properties along with Ni-WC composite coatings.