Mechanical and Anti-Corrosion Properties of TiO2 Nanoparticle Reinforced Ni Coating by Electrodeposition

Nanocomposite metallic coatings containing various reinforced nanoparticles to improve their tribological and mechanical properties enhance and improve their use in industry and have been developed in last few decades. The main purpose of the current work is to investigate mechanical and anti-corrosion properties of the electroplated nickel nanocomposite with a small percentage of titania nanoparticles. The surface morphology, hardness, wear and corrosion resistance were investigated in detail. The results showed the nanocomposite coatings have a smoother and more compact surface than the pure nickel layer, and have higher hardness and lower wear rate than the pure Ni coating. The preferred orientation of the nanocomposite coating changes from (200) crystal plane to (220) plane. The anti-corrosion property of nanocomposite coating was carried out in 3.5% and 35% NaCl solution, respectively. The results also showed that the nanocomposite coating improves the corrosion resistance significantly. This present work reveals that incorporation of titania nanoparticles in nickel nanocomposite coating can achieve much improved corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of both hardness and wear resistance performances, and the improvement becomes stronger as the content of titania is increased.