Pulse Current Electrodeposition and Characterization of Ni-W-MWCNTs Nanocomposite Coatings

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of the dimension 20-30 nm x 10-30 mu m (diameter x length) are employed to fabricate the alloy composite coating by electrodeposition technique. Ni-W-MWCNTs composite coatings are obtained successfully on C45 steel from a Ni-W plating electrolyte with suspended MWCNTs. These MWCNTs were incorporated into the Ni-W alloy matrix uniformly and corresponding coatings are investigated for their structure, morphology, electrochemical and mechanical behavior and compared with that of Ni-W alloy deposit. From the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results, small amount of MWCNTs made Ni-W deposit compact and uniform. Additionally, an improvement in corrosion and friction resistance was confirmed by electrochemical and friction coefficient measurements. (C) 2015 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.