Preparation and properties of electroless Ni-P-SiO2 composite coatings

Dispersible SiO₂ nanoparticles were co-deposited with electroless Ni-P coating onto AISI-1045 steel substrates in the absence of any surfactants in plating bath. The resulting Ni-P/nano-SiO₂ composite coatings were heat-treated for 1 h at 200 °C, 400 °C, and 600 °C, respectively. The hardness and wear resistance of the heat-treated composite coatings were measured. Moreover, the structural changes of the composite coatings before and after heat treatment were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), while their elemental composition and morphology were analyzed using an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results show that co-deposited SiO₂ particles contributed to increase the hardness and wear resistance of electroless Ni-P coating, and the composite coating heat-treated at about 400 °C had the maximum hardness and wear resistance.     

Influence of heat treatment on tribological properties of electroless Ni-P and Ni-P-Al2O3 coatings on Al-Si casting alloy

Evolution of tribological properties of electroless Ni-P and Ni-P-Al₂O₃ coating on an Al-10Si-0.3Mg casting alloy during heat treatment is investigated in this work. The pre-treated substrate was plated using a bath containing nickel hypophosphite, nickel lactate and lactic acid. For preparation of fiber-reinforced coating Al₂O₃ Saffil fibers pre-treated in demineralised water were used. The coated samples were heat treated at 400-550 °C/1-8 h. Tribological properties were studied using the pin-on-disc method. It is found that the best coating performance is obtained using optimal heat treatment regime (400 °C/1 h). Annealing at higher temperatures (450 °C and above) leads to the formation of intermetallic compounds that reduce the coating wear resistance. The reason is that the intermetallic phases adversely affect the coating adherence to the substrate. The analysis of wear tracks proves that abrasion is major wear mechanism, however due to the formed intermetallic sub-layers, partial coating delamination may occur during the pin-on-disc test on the samples annealed at 450 °C and above. It was found that fiber reinforcement reduces this scaling and increases wear resistance of coatings as compared to the non-reinforced Ni-P coatings.     

Tribological properties of heat-treated electroless Ni-P coatings on AZ91 alloy

Influence of heat treatment regime on adhesion and wear resistance of Ni-P electroless coating on AZ91 magnesium alloy is investigated in this work. The pretreated substrate was plated using a bath containing nickel sulphate, sodium hypophosphite and sodium acetate as main constituents. The coated samples were heat treated at 400-450 °C for 1-8 h. Adhesion of coating was estimated from the scratch test with an initial load of 8.80 N. Wear resistance was studied using the pin-on-disc method. It was found that there is no significant dependence of the coating wear resistance on heat treatment regime, as the formation of Al-Ni intermetallic sub-layers that reduce coating adhesion is limited to regions where Al₁₇Mg₁₂ phase is present in the substrate. Moreover, the coating shows good sliding properties due to the formation of oxide glazes in the wear track.     

The microstructure, mechanical and friction properties of protective diamond like carbon films on magnesium alloy

Protective hard coatings deposited on magnesium alloys are believed to be effective for overcoming their poor wear properties. In this work, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films as hard protective films were deposited on AZ91 magnesium alloy by arc ion plating under negative pulse bias voltages ranging from 0 to −200 V. The microstructure, composition and mechanical properties of the DLC films were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and nanoindentation. The tribological behavior of uncoated and coated AZ91 magnesium alloy was investigated using a ball-on-disk tribotester. The results show that the negative pulse bias voltage used for film deposition has a significant effect on the sp³ carbon content and mechanical properties of the deposited DLC films. A maximum sp³ content of 33.3% was obtained at −100 V, resulting in a high hardness of 28.6 GPa and elastic modulus of 300.0 GPa. The DLC films showed very good adhesion to the AZ91 magnesium alloy with no observable cracks and delamination even during friction testing. Compared with the uncoated AZ91 magnesium alloy, the magnesium alloy coated with DLC films exhibits a low friction coefficient and a narrow, shallow wear track. The wear resistance and surface hardness of AZ91 magnesium alloy can be significantly improved by coating a layer of DLC protective film due to its high hardness and low friction coefficient.     

The electrodeposition behaviors and magnetic properties of Ni-Co films

Ni-Co films with different compositions and microstructures were produced on ITO glasses by electrodeposition from sulphate bath at 25 °C. Cyclic voltammograms give a result that the increase in the Co²⁺ concentration displaces Ni-Co alloy oxidation peaks to negative potential with high Co current distributions. It is observed that the content of cobalt in the films increases from 22.42% to 56.09% as the molar ratio of CoSO₄/NiSO₄ varying from 0.015/0.085 to 0.045/0.055 in electrolyte. XRD patterns reveal that the structure of the films strongly depends on the Co content in the deposited films. The saturation magnetization (M_s) moves up from 144.84 kA m⁻¹ to 342.35 kA m⁻¹ and coercivity (H_c) falls from 15.27 kA m⁻¹ to 7.27 kA m⁻¹ with the heat treatment temperature increasing from 25 °C to 450 °C. The saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) move up from 340.97 kA m⁻¹ and 7.98 kA m⁻¹ to 971.58 kA m⁻¹ and 18.62 kA m⁻¹ with the Co content increasing from 22.42% to 56.09% after annealing at 450.     

Preparation of the Ni-P composite coating co-deposited by nano TiC particles and evaluation of it's corrosion property

In current research, low carbon steel plates were coated by Ni-P electroless method. The effect of adding different concentrations (ranging from 0.01 g/l to 0.5 g/l) of TiC nano-sized particles to the plating bath on deposition rate, surface morphology and corrosion behavior of Ni-P-TiC composite coatings were investigated. The surface morphology and the relevant structure were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Corrosion behavior of the coated steel was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization techniques. The results showed that addition of TiC nano-particles to Ni-P electroless bath not only changes the surface morphology of Ni-P coating, but also improves corrosion resistance of the steel in comparison with TiC free Ni-P electroless coating. In addition, the deposition rate of coating was also affected by incorporation of TiC particles. It was also found that improvement in corrosion resistance largely depends on the phosphorous and TiC concentrations on the coatings.     

Structure and mechanical properties of Ni-P electrodeposited coatings

The coatings with different phosphorus contents were obtained by varying the concentration of H₃PO₃ in the electroplating bath. With the increase of phosphorus content, the structure of the Ni-P electrodeposited coatings transformed from microcrystalline to a mixture of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases, then to amorphous phase. A high hardness value of 710 HV_0.1 of as-deposited Ni-P coating was obtained at 8.3 at.% phosphorus content, and high wear resistance was accordingly achieved. The refined nanocrystalline grains with average size of about 7 nm were found to be responsible for the high hardness and improved wear resistance of the as-deposited Ni-P electrodeposited coating.     

Mechanical properties and wear and corrosion resistance of electrodeposited Ni-Co/SiC nanocomposite coating

Ni-Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings with various contents of SiC nano-particulates were prepared by electrodeposition in a Ni-Co plating bath containing SiC nano-particulates to be co-deposited. The influences of the nanoparticulates concentration, current density, stirring rate and temperature of the plating bath on the composition of the coatings were investigated. The shape and size of the SiC nano-particulates were observed and determined using a transmission electron microscope. The polarization behavior of the composite plating bath was examined on a PAR-273A potentiostat/galvanostat device. The wear behavior of the Ni-Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings was evaluated on a ball-on-disk UMT-2MT test rig. The worn surface morphologies of the Ni-Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings were observed using a scanning electron microscope. The corrosion behavior of the nanocomposite coatings was evaluated by charting the Tafel curves of the solution of 0.5 mol L⁻¹ NaCl at room temperature. It was found that the cathodic polarization potential of the composite electrolyte increased with increasing SiC concentration in the plating bath. The microhardness and wear and corrosion resistance of the nanocomposite coatings also increased with increasing content of the nano-SiC in the plating bath, and the morphologies of the nanocomposite coatings varied with varying SiC concentration in the plating bath as well. Moreover, the co-deposited SiC nano-particulates were uniformly distributed in the Ni-Co matrix and contributed to greatly increase the microhardness and wear resistance of the Ni-Co alloy coating.     

Ni-Co-TiO2 nanocomposite coating prepared by pulse and pulse reversal methods using acetate bath

Ni-Co/nano TiO₂ (Ni-Co-TiO₂) composite coatings were prepared under pulse current and pulse reverse current methods using acetate bath. The microstructure and corrosion resistance of the coatings were characterized by means of XRD, SEM and EIS. Both the Ni-Co alloy and composite coatings exhibited single phase of Ni matrix with face centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure. The crystal orientation of the Ni-Co-TiO₂ composite coating was transformed from crystal face (2 0 0) to (1 1 1) compared with Ni-Co alloy coatings. The results showed that the microstructure and performances of the coatings were greatly affected by TiO₂ content on the deposits prepared by PC and PRC methods. The microhardness and corrosion resistance were enhanced in the optimum percentage of TiO₂ composite coatings. The PRC composite coatings were exhibited from compact surface, higher microhardness and good corrosion resistance compared with that of the PC composite coating.     

Tribological properties of the Ti-Al-N thin films with different components fabricated by double-targeted co-sputtering

Ti-Al-N films with different chemical compositions were deposited on stainless steel by changing the relative substrate position to targets using double-targeted reactive magnetron sputtering technique in the same process. The tribological behavior of the Ti-Al-N films was investigated in the temperature ranging from room temperature to elevated temperature in air without any lubricant on UMT-3 multifunctional friction and wear tribometer. The structure of the as-deposited films and the worn surface after tribometer testing were identified using XRD, EDS and SEM. It was found that the chemical composition of the as-deposited films altered with substrate position from Ti_0.82Al_0.18N to Ti_0.12Al_0.88N. XRD results revealed that the sputtered films before heat treatment were amorphous, but different phases such as TiN, AlN and TiAlN were formed after heat treatment of 700 °C × 1 h. Friction and wear tests indicated the films with x = 0.57, 0.65 exhibited the best tribological performance during the Ti_1−xAl_xN films system because of its hard phase and the formation of transfer films.     

Corrosion resistance and lubricated sliding wear behaviour of novel Ni-P graded alloys as an alternative to hard Cr deposits

Alternative process to hexavalent chromium, substitute materials and new designs are urgently needed owing to the requirement of “clean” manufacture. This comparative study was conducted to systematically investigate the corrosion resistance and lubricated sliding wear behavior of graded Ni-P alloy deposits produced from a single plating bath by electrodeposition and hard Cr deposits, using potentiodynamic polarization and reciprocating ball-on-disc tribometer. Results showed that Ni-P deposits heat-treated at 400 °C with maximum hardness exhibited more than two orders of magnitude higher corrosion resistance than hard Cr deposits in 10 wt.% HCl solution. The Stribeck curves for the heat-treated Ni-P gradient deposits and hard Cr under lubrication conditions were obtained with accurate control of normal load and sliding speed during the wear process, three main different regimes corresponding to different lubrication mechanism were identified. Heat-treated Ni-P gradient deposits showed relatively poor wear resistance than hard Cr deposits under the lubrication conditions, which may be attributed to superior oil-retaining surface structure and the unique “nodular” effect of hard Cr in wear process.     

Synthesis of anodizing composite films containing superfine Al2O3 and PTFE particles on Al alloys

Anodized composite films containing superfine Al₂O₃ and PTFE particles were prepared on 2024 Al alloy using an anodizing method. The microstructures and properties of the films were studied by scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Friction wear tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of the composites. Results indicate that the composite films with reinforced Al₂O₃ and PTFE two-particles have reduced friction coefficients and relatively high microhardness. The friction coefficient can be as small as 0.15, which is much smaller than that of an oxide film prepared under the same conditions but without adding any particles (0.25), while the microhardness can reach as high as 404 HV. When rubbed at room temperature for 20 min during dry sliding friction tests, the wear loss of the film was about 16 mg, which is about the half of that of the samples without added particles. The synthesized composite films that have good anti-wear and self-lubricating properties are desirable for oil-free industrial machinery applications.     

Studies on influence of zinc immersion and fluoride on nickel electroplating on magnesium alloy AZ91D

The effect of zinc immersion and the role of fluoride in nickel plating bath were mainly investigated in nickel electroplating on magnesium alloy AZ91D. The state of zinc immersion, the composition of zinc film and the role of fluoride in nickel plating bath were explored from the curves of open circuit potential (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarization, the images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the patterns of energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). Results show that the optimum zinc film mixing small amount of Mg(OH)₂ and MgF₂ is obtained by zinc immersion for 30-90 s. The corrosion potential of magnesium alloy substrate attached zinc film will be increased in nickel plating bath and the quantity of MgF₂ sandwiched between magnesium alloy substrate and nickel coating will be reduced, which contributed to produce nickel coating with good performance. Fluoride in nickel plating bath serves as an activator of nickel anodic dissolution and corrosion inhibitor of magnesium alloy substrate. 1.0-1.5 mol dm⁻³ of F⁻ is the optimum concentration range for dissolving nickel anode and protecting magnesium alloy substrate from over-corrosion in nickel plating bath. The nickel coating with good adhesion and high corrosion resistance on magnesium alloy AZ91D is obtained by the developed process of nickel electroplating. This nickel layer can be used as the rendering coating for further plating on magnesium alloys.     

Improving the bioactivity of NiTi shape memory alloy by heat and alkali treatment

TiO₂ films were formed on an NiTi alloy surface by heat treatment in air at 600 °C. Heat treated NiTi shape memory alloys were subsequently alkali treated with 1 M, 3 M and 5 M NaOH solutions respectively, to improve their bioactivity. Then treated NiTi samples were soaked in 1.5SBF to evaluate their in vitro performance. The results showed that the 3 M NaOH treatment is the most appropriate method. A large amount of apatite formed within 1 day's soaking in 1.5SBF, after 7 day's soaking TiO₂/HA composite layer formed on the NiTi surface. SEM, XRD, FT-IR and TEM results showed that the morphology and microstructure are similar to the human bone apatite.     

Modulation of the magnetic properties of CoNi coatings by electrodeposition in the presence of a redox cationic surfactant

Magnetic properties of CoNi films have been drastically modified by alloy electrodeposition from solutions containing a redox cationic surfactant (4-butylazobenzene-4′-(oxyethyl)trimethylammonium iodide-AZTMAI). Electrodeposition in presence of AZTMAI allows preparing CoNi coatings evolving to hard-magnetic behaviour. A gradual increase of CoNi films coercivity accompanied by a decrease of remanence and susceptibility was observed by increasing AZTMAI concentration. CoNi electrodeposition process has been modified by the presence of AZTMAI in the bath. The redox behaviour of the cationic surfactant synthesised in our laboratory was studied in the CoNi electrolytic bath revealing that additive reduces during cobalt-nickel electrodeposition. Cobalt-rich CoNi deposits obtained in the presence of AZTMAI were uniform and compact, showing acicular morphology and hcp structure with [10.0] + [11.0] orientation. The changes in crystalline structure of deposits were the responsible of magnetic properties modification.     

Characterization of gallium-doped CdS thin films grown by chemical bath deposition

Ga-doped CdS thin films, with different [Ga]/[Cd] ratios, were grown using chemical bath deposition. The effect of Ga-doping on optical properties and bandgap of CdS films is investigated. Resistivity, carrier density, and mobility of doped films were acquired using Hall effect measurements. Crystal structure as well as crystal quality and phase transition were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman spectroscopy. Film morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy, while film chemistry and binding states were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A minimum bandgap of 2.26 eV was obtained at [Ga]/[Cd] ratio of 1.7 × 10⁻². XRD studies showed Ga³⁺ ions entering the lattice substitutionally at low concentration, and interstitially at high concentration. Phase transition, due to annealing, as well as induced lattice defects, due to doping, were detected by Micro-Raman spectroscopy. The highest carrier density and lowest resistivity were obtained at [Ga]/[Cd] ratio of 3.4 × 10⁻². XPS measurements detect an increase in sulfur deficiency in doped films.     

Growth behavior of electroless Ni-Co-P deposits on Fe

The electroless Ni-Co-P films were deposited on Fe film in plating baths using sodium hypophosphite as reducing agent and nickel and cobalt sulphates as ion source at pH value of 9 and plating temperature from 60 to 85 °C. The effect of the mol ratio of CoSO₄/CoSO₄ + NiSO₄ in plating bath on the growth behavior of electroless Ni-Co-P films was studied. The electroless Ni-Co-P films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy for the microstructure and thickness, and energy dispersive spectrometer for the composition. The results showed that the electroless Ni-Co-P films can be deposited on Fe films without the step of sensitization and activization; the surface of electroless Ni-Co-P film on Fe is quite even; the more the Co²⁺ ion in plating bath, the larger the activation energy and the smaller the plating rate of electroless Ni-Co-P films; and the mol ratio of Co/Co + Ni in film is larger than that in plating bath (with the exception of the film deposited in the bath with 0.9 mol ratio of CoSO₄/CoSO₄ + NiSO₄)     

Use of modified chemical route for ZnSe nanocrystalline thin films growth: Study on surface morphology and physical properties

The zinc selenide thin films have been deposited using modified chemical bath deposition (M-CBD) method. Zinc acetate and sodium selenosulphate were used as Zn²⁺ and Se²⁻ ion sources, respectively. The preparative parameters such as concentration, pH, number of deposition cycles have been optimized in order to deposit ZnSe thin films. The as-deposited ZnSe thin films are specularly reflective and faint yellowish in color. The as-deposited ZnSe films are annealed in an air atmosphere at 473 K for 2 h. The films are characterized using structural, morphological, compositional, optical and electrical properties.     

Preparation and characterization of p-type transparent conducting tin-gallium oxide films

p-Type transparent conducting tin-gallium oxide (TGO) films were successfully fabricated on quartz substrates by DC magnetron sputtering of GaSn alloy films followed by thermal oxidation. XRD characterization indicated that the TGO films maintain rutile structure of the tin oxide (SnO₂). UV-vis transmittance spectra indicated that the films have a transmittance higher than 85% in the visible region, with an optical band-gap around 3.8 eV. Hall effect measurement showed that electrical properties of the TGO films were dependent on oxidation temperature. Oxidation at too high or low temperature was unfavorable for p-type conduction. It is found that the optimum oxidation temperature for highest hole concentration (8.84 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³) was in the range of 600-650 °C.     

Characterization of ZnO-SnO2 thin film composites prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Thin films of ZnO-SnO₂ composites have been deposited on Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates at 500 °C by pulsed laser ablation using different composite targets with ZnO amount varying between 1 and 50 wt%. The effect of increasing ZnO-content on electrical, optical and structural properties of the ZnO-SnO₂ films has been investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the as-deposited ZnO-SnO₂ films can be both crystalline (for ZnO <1 wt%) and amorphous (for ZnO ≥ 10 wt%) in nature. Atomic force microscopy studies of the as-prepared composite films indicate that the surfaces are fairly smooth with rms roughness varying between 3.07 and 2.04 nm. The average optical transmittance of the as-deposited films in the visible range (400-800 nm), decreases from 90% to 72% for increasing ZnO concentration in the film. The band gap energy (E_g) seems to depend on the amount of ZnO addition, with the maximum obtained at 1 wt% ZnO. Assuming that the interband electron transition is direct, the optical band gap has been found to be in the range 3.24-3.69 eV for as-deposited composite films. The lowest electrical resistivity of 7.6 × 10⁻³ Ω cm has been achieved with the 25 wt% ZnO composite film deposited at 500 °C. The photoluminescence spectrum of the composite films shows a decrease in PL intensity with increasing ZnO concentration.