The corrosion behavior of Ni–Fe and Ni–Fe–TiC nanoparticles deposited using pulse electrodeposition on low-carbon steel

Abstract

In this study, the nickel–iron–titanium carbide (Ni–Fe–TiC) nanocomposite was applied on the St14 low-carbon steel via pulse‌ electrodeposition. Electroplating was applied on the substrate with different values ​​of current density, frequency, duty cycle, electroplating time (t) and concentration of TiC nanoparticles, and the properties of the applied coatings were evaluated. To the study the microstructure and morphology of the applied coatings, field emission electron microscope (FESEM) was used. The amount of deposited elements in the coating was determined by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). To evaluate the corrosion resistance of the coatings, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance (EIS) tests were carried out in 3.5% NaCl solution as a corrosive environment. The optimum coating was obtained at the current density (J) of 30 mA/cm², duty cycle (\(\gamma\)) of 60%, frequency (f) of 20 Hz and 2 g/L concentration of TiC nanoparticles. The optimum coating increased the corrosion potential from -0.675 V to -0.332 V and decreased the corrosion current density from 157.200μA/cm² to 0.790μA/cm². The presence of TiC nanoparticles in the coating reduced the corrosion current density from 2.130μA/cm² (Ni–Fe coating) to 0.790μA/cm² (Ni–Fe–TiC nanocomposite coating).