Producing cobalt–graphene composite coating by pulse electrodeposition with excellent wear and corrosion resistance

Abstract

Cobalt (Co) and graphene oxide/cobalt (GO/Co) composite coatings were fabricated by pulse electrodeposition technique from an aqueous bath containing cobalt sulfate and GO, etc. Effect of the incorporations of GO on morphology, phase structure, average grain size and corrosion and wear resistance of the resulting composite coatings were evaluated in detail. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersed X-ray (EDX) show that the GO nanosheets disperse homogeneously in the composite coating and the incorporations of GO change the morphologies of the deposit from conical shaped structure to protruding structure. In addition, the co-deposition GO with Co ions favor the formation of hcp (100), (002) and (101) textures in the composite coating and have functions of grain refining and hardness enhancement. The wear tests show that the incorporations of GO in the coating improve the wear resistance and friction reduction of the deposit. The electrochemical corrosion tests using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy show that the GO/Co composite coating possesses better corrosion resistance than the pure Co coating.