Characterization and Corrosion Resistance Behavior of Pure Ni Coatings & Ni-V2O5 Nano composite Coatings Developed by DC & PC Methods of Electrodeposition

Pure nickel (Ni) coating and nickel – vanadium pentoxide (Ni-V2O5) nanocomposite coatings have been developed on mild steel substrates by direct current (DC) & pulse current (PC) methods of electrodeposition using sulfamate electrolyte bath by optimizing all the suitable parameters. The surface morphology and texture characterization of pure Ni coating and Ni-V2O5nanocomposite coatings were analyzed by spectroscopic techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) equipped with an attachment for Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) & X-ray Diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy analysis. The SEM study confirmed surface morphology of the pure Ni coating was changed by the incorporation of V2O5 nanoparticles in the nickel metal matrix and chemical composition of all the coatings was determined by EDS. XRD study proved highly corrosion resistant nanocomposites show preferred orientation towards (111) plane. The corrosion rate of all the coatings was investigated in 3.5% corrosive medium using electrochemical techniques such as Tafel extrapolation and AC impedance. The coatings developed by PC show enhanced corrosion resistance behavior compare to coatings developed by DC. The 0.125g/L Ni-V2O5nanocomposite coating obtained by PC show more widened semicircle with high Rp value and has more positive shift with high corrosion resistance during AC impedance and Tafel extrapolation analysis respectively. The coatings developed by PC showed improved micro hardness compare to coatings developed by DC during micro hardness testing of all the coatings.

A study of the electrophoretic deposition of polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite coating on stainless steel (316L) substrates

In this research, bioglass nanoparticles were synthesized via sol-gel method and a polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite coating was formed on SS316L substrate using electrophoretic deposition method. Then, the effects of voltage and deposition time on morphology, thickness, roughness, and wettability of final coating were investigated. Finally, biocompatibility and toxicity of the coating were evaluated. The results showed that increase of both time and voltage enhanced the thickness, roughness, and wettability of coating. Also, increase of deposition time increased the agglomeration. Therefore, it can be concluded that voltage of 20 V and time of 10 min are suitable for the formation of a uniform agglomerate-free coating. The presence of bioglass nanoparticles also led to the increase of roughness and improvement of polycaprolactone hydrophobicity. The results also showed higher bioactivity in polycaprolactone-chitosan-1% bioglass nanocomposite coating sample. This sample had a roughness ( Ra) of 1.048 ± 0.037 μm and thickness of 2.54 ± 0.14 μm. In summary, the results indicated that coating of polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite on SS316L substrate could be a suitable surface treatment to increase its in vivo bioactivity and biocompatibility.

Synthesis of TiB2-Ni3B nanocomposite coating by DC magnetron sputtering for corrosion-erosion protection

Significant contribution on corrosion-erosion resistance of Ni3B-TiB2 nanocomposite coating of 1µm of thickness, deposited by DC magnetron Sputtering on stainless steel 304 substrates was studied. Nickel phase (γ Ni) plus Ni3B-TiB2 phases were synthesized previously by Mechanical Alloying (MA). Solid cathode (76.2 mm of diameter and 3 mm of thickness) used to grow thin films was manufactured with the alloyed powders, applying a uniaxial load of 70 MPa at room temperature and sintered at 900° C for two hours. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the coatings were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), nanoindentation, and wear test with a ball-on-disc tribometer. Compact coating of Ni3B-TiB2 with a microstructure of prismatic crystals after annealing treatment, showing a uniform coating with good adherence and low friction coefficient of 0.5, correlated with a low roughness of Ra ≈ 0.0439±0.0069 µm. The average hardness of 537.4 HV (5265.0 MPa) and wear coefficient at room temperature of 2.552E-10 m2N-1 correspond with medium-hard phases with an elastic-plastic behavior suitable for fatigue applications. Geothermal fluid modified was synthesized in the lab with NaCl/Na2SO4 to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the films in a standard three electrodes cell, characterizing a corrosion rate of 0.0008 and 0.001 mm*year-1 at 25 and 80°C respectively during 86.4 ks (24 h) of exposition; showing a resistive coating without corrosion products and with good response to the geothermal environment.