Wear and hardness evaluation of electrodeposited Ni-SiC nanocomposite coated copper

Abstract

In this article, Ni-SiC nano-composite coatings were fabricated using the conventional electrodeposition process, Watt's Nickel electroplating and sulfamate bath, applying on copper substrates. The goal of the present work was to improve wear resistance and hardness properties of Ni-SiC composite coatings by electrodeposition techniques. To obtain a better chemistry between SiC incorporations and Ni matrix and, afterwards, better wear resistance, the variation in the microhardness was considered as significant surface property of nanocomposites by examining the effect of various electrodeposition parameters such as, pH, temperature, current density, temperature, etc. The microhardness,778HV, and the wear resistance of the nanocomposite coatings was found to be increased with increasing content of Ni-SiC at optimised current values of 0.61A. Uniform distribution of coatings structure as cauliflower was confirmed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, while composition and crystallinity of Ni-SiC was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry, respectively.