Development of CeO2 nanorods reinforced electrodeposited nickel nanocomposite coating and its tribological and corrosion resistance properties

Abstract

A simple electrodeposition technique was used to prepare Ni-CeO2 nanorods composite coating (Ni-CeO2 NRs) using Watt's nickel plating bath containing CeO2 nanorods (NRs) as the reinforcement phase under optimized process conditions. The X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was used for the structural analysis of Ni-CeO2 NRs composite coatings and their average crystalline size is ∼22 nm for pure Ni and ∼18 nm, respectively. The crystalline structure is fcc for the Ni-CeO2 nanocomposite coatings. The surface morphology of the electrodeposited Ni-CeO2 NRs composite coatings was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microhardness of pure Ni and Ni-CeO2 NRs composite coatings are found to be 253 HV and 824 HV, respectively. The inclusion of CeO2 NRs increases the microhardness of Ni-CeO2 NRs composite coatings. The corrosion resistance behavior of Ni-CeO2 NRs composite coating was evaluated by Tafel polarization and AC impedance methods. It is revealed that CeO2 NRs reinforced Ni matrix shows higher microhardness and corrosion resistance than existing reported electrodeposited pure Ni and CeO2 nanoparticles reinforced Ni coatings.