Efficient fabrication and characterization of Ni-Fe-WC composite coatings with high corrosion resistance

Abstract

Nickel-iron alloy is broadly utilized in the industrial field due to its fabulous mechanical properties. How to prepare nickel-iron alloy with better corrosion resistance more efficiently is an important concern. Based on this, the WC particles enhanced nickel-iron coatings were fabricated by jet electrodeposition (JED) at a high current density of 100A/dm2. It was found that increasing the deposition temperature appropriately during JED is beneficial to obtain Ni-Fe-WC coating with the higher number of hard particles. Specifically, the maximum WC particles proportion reaches 4.47 wt% at 55 °C. The electrochemical corrosion behavior of coating was measured by polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The polarization curve test results displayed that the Ecorr positively shifted from −0.402 to −0.281 V and the icorr reduced from 25.13 to 7.05 μA/cm2 with the increase of WC particles proportion. Meanwhile, the EIS test results exhibited that the impedance of coating enhanced from 12,720 to 59,140 Ω cm2. The neutral salt spray test (NSS) was used to simulate the corrosion of coating in a seawater environment. The NSS results showed that with the increase of WC particles, the corrosion products decreased gradually and the degree of corrosion decreased. The analysis showed that WC particles can help the grain growth and release the internal stress in the coating. Larger grain sizes reduces intergranular corrosion and smaller internal stress help to alleviate stress corrosion cracking. The above research can provide theoretical support for the efficient preparation of particle enhanced composite coating with strong corrosion resistance.