Pulsed electrodeposition of Co-W amorphous and crystalline coatings

Replacement of hard chromium plating has been of particular interest to many industrial applications, including automotive, aircraft, and machinery parts that require high hardness and wear/corrosion resistance. Co-W alloy coatings, owing to their eco-friendly processing and high hardness/wear resistance, are promising for electrolytic chromium replacement. In the present study, pulsed electrodeposition of amorphous and crystalline Co-W coating is reported. Systematic investigations on the effect of pulse duty cycle and pulse frequency on development of surface microstructure, phases, composition, surface roughness, and micro-hardness are presented. Furthermore, detailed analysis of micro-/nano-mechanical (using ball-on-disc wear tester and nanoindentor) and corrosion (using potentiodynamic polarization method) behavior of optimized Co-W coatings is presented. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.