Nanoparticle dispersion, microstructure and thermal effect of multi-doped ZrO2/SiC from sulphate induced electrolyte

Abstract

Effort to improve the hardness and thermal resilient properties of coating for advanced engineering applications has necessitated this study. Zn sulphate electrolyte was induced with ZrO2-SiC composite particulate at varied current density of 1.5 and 2.0 A/cm2 for 10 minutes. The incorporated composite particles of ZrO2/SiC were varied in other to examine their mechanical responses on zinc electrolyte. The coated films were characterised with scanning electron microscope with attached electron dispersion spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The micro-hardness properties of the coated and thermal aged alloy were determined with high diamond micro-hardness tester. The anti-corrosion progression was examined using linear polarization technique in 3.65% NaCl. From the results, the incorporation of the composite matrix was found to impact significantly on the surface and microhardness properties. The co-deposition of composite submicron on the zinc electrolyte revealed that homogenous grain structure was obtained. To this end, a boost in the performance characteristics was attained due to effective co-deposition parameters in the electrolyte.