Electrodeposited Zinc-Nickel Nanocomposite Coatings

Abstract

Composite coatings can demonstrate improved property performance as compared to metals and alloy materials. One category of composite coatings is composed of metal or metal alloys with a dispersed phase of nonmetallic nanoparticles. The addition of these nanoparticles has been found to improve corrosion, wear resistance, and hardness. Producing metal composite coatings using electrochemical techniques can be advantageous due to reduced production cost, lower working temperatures, and precise control of experimental parameters. Metal coatings such as zinc have been successfully co-deposited with TiO 2 , SiO 2 , CeO 2 and mica particles and nickel has been co-deposited with a number of materials including TiO 2 , SiC, Al 2 O 3 , PTFE and silicates. Zinc-nickel alloys have long been studied for a number of properties, most notably corrosion resistance and recently their tribological properties. This chapter reviews the literature on electrodeposition of ZnNi nanocomposite coatings. Although there has been much work done on composite coatings, there is much less literature available on composite coatings with zinc-nickel alloys. So in this review, we look at the general trends for nanoparticle incorporation, deposition mechanisms, system stability, microstructures of the coatings and general corrosion trends.