Mechanical and Corrosion resistance behavior of Ultrasonication-assisted Electrodeposited Ni–SiC Nanocomposite coatings

Pure Ni/Ni–SiC composite coatings were electrodeposited onto stainless-steel substrate using ultrasonic-assisted electroco-deposition techniques by varying the deposition times. The investigations mainly focus on the structural, microstructural, mechanical, and corrosion properties of the composites coating deposited by varying deposition times in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate surfactant and Silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles (∼50 nm) reinforcement. The incorporation of filler and increasing deposition time decreases the surface roughness of the coating, making the composite Ni–SiC 2 h deposition smoother as (0.087 ± 0.005) μm compared to other coatings. X-Ray Diffraction results indicated that the coating exhibited an FCC Ni-type structure with the primary orientation along the (200) direction. Microstructural studies conducted with a scanning electron microscope revealed irregular shaped granules within the composite, along with fine grains, and their compaction increased with longer deposition times. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elemental mapping confirmed that SiC was uniformly distributed in the 2 h composite coatings. This resulted in a considerable enhancement of the composite's mechanical properties, with a nano hardness of (3.12 ± 0.13) GPa and bulk microhardness of (213 ± 5) HV on both the top surface and cross-sectional surface of the composites, respectively. The corrosion study indicated that the Ni–SiC composite films deposited for 2 h provided better corrosion resistance when compared to pure Ni coating.