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Influence of Heat Treatment on Crystal Structure, Microhardness and Corrosion Resistance of Bilayer Electroless Ni-P-SiC/Ni-P-Al2O3 Coatings

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Abstract

Purpose

Improvements in physical and mechanical properties of structures are essential for industrial applications. Electroless coatings are among the most suitable choices for this purpose. To improve the surface properties of mild steel, such as microhardness and resistance to corrosion, Al2O3 and SiC nanoparticle-reinforced multilayer Ni-P coatings were fabricated using an electroless surface coating technique.

Methods

Al2O3 and SiC-added duplex Ni-P coatings were developed using dual electroless baths containing Al2O3 and SiC nanoparticles individually. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry and X-ray diffraction were used to examine the morphology, elemental composition, and coating structure. The microhardness of the deposits was examined using a Vickers hardness tester. The corrosion protection ability of the coatings was analyzed by performing potentiodynamic polarization studies in a 3.5% NaCl solution.

Results

The experimental results showed that among the samples analyzed in this study, a bilayer coating with Ni-P-SiC as the external layer provided the highest microhardness. The Ni-P-Al2O3 outer layered duplex coating offers the maximum resistance to corrosion owing to the higher electrochemical resistivity of the Al2O3 particles. The thermal process performed at the optimized temperature of 400 °C enhanced the coating properties owing to crystallization.

Conclusions

Duplex coatings with high hardness and good corrosion protection have a broad range of applications.

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Data Availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, GMR Institute of Technology, GMR Nagar, 532127, Rajam, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Sudhakar Uppada & Vinod Babu Chintada

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andhra University, 530003, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Ramji Koona

  3. Department of Robotics Engineering, College of Mechanical and IT Engineering, Yeungnam University, 38541, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea

    Ravindranadh Koutavarapu

Authors
  1. Sudhakar Uppada
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  2. Ramji Koona
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  3. Vinod Babu Chintada
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  4. Ravindranadh Koutavarapu
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Contributions

Sudhakar Uppada: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing. Ramji Koona: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing. Vinod Babu Chintada: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing. Ravindranadh Koutavarapu: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Vinod Babu Chintada or Ravindranadh Koutavarapu.

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Uppada, S., Koona, R., Chintada, V.B. et al. Influence of Heat Treatment on Crystal Structure, Microhardness and Corrosion Resistance of Bilayer Electroless Ni-P-SiC/Ni-P-Al2O3 Coatings. Silicon 15, 793–803 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-022-02042-6

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