Nickel partitioning in ZnNi coatings (Ni less than 4 wt.%) and its effect on the coating corrosion behaviour

ABSTRACT ZnNi alloy coatings with low Ni content (1–4 wt.% Ni) were electrodeposited over mild steel. Ni addition changed the coating morphology from faceted to hillock, decreased the crystallite size, and shifted the basal plane texture to higher energy (01 1) texture. Zn-1.5 wt.% Ni coating exhibited significantly improved corrosion resistance, even better than the pristine Zn coating. The corrosion resistance properties, however, degraded considerably as the Ni content increased (2.7 and 3.7 wt% Ni). The high corrosion resistance of the Zn-1.5 wt.% Ni coatings was due to the presence of nearly basal texture, low coating strain and evolution of stable γ-phase in the Zn matrix. The corrosion rate for higher Ni addition increased due to high energy surface texture and higher coating strain.