Effect of SiC nanoparticle content on the properties of Ni-W-SiC nanocomposite thin films deposited by pulse current electrodeposition

In this study, pulse current electrodeposition (PC) was used to fabricate Ni-W-SiCthin films on mild steel plates, by utilizing a Watts-type Ni liquid that contained SiC nano-particles (NPs). The films deposited with 9 g/L SiC NP showed a smooth, finely granular, and remarkably homogeneous surface structure. All films showed SiC NPs equally distributed on the Ni-W-SiC-NPs surface regardless of the starting SiC NP content. The calculations revealed that the thicknesses of Ni-W-SiC-NPs films deposited at 9 and 12 g/L were ≈ 27.3 and ≈ 22.2 μm, respectively. Moreover, the crystallite sizes decreased as the SiC NPs’ level was changed up to 9 g/L. Film particles became smaller (≈66 nm) but enlarged to 85 nm when SiC NPs level was changed from 9 g/L to 12 g/L, respectively. The deposited layer demonstrated an increase in microhardness from 490.2 HV to 881.5 HV with the addition of SiC nanoparticles. However, the hardness values of the Ni-W-SiC-NPs films became lower as the SiC NPs levels were changed from 9 to 12 g/L. Additionally, films fabricated using 9 g/L of SiC NP level demonstrated a minimal corrosion current (equal to 1.536 ×10−6 μA/cm2). The corrosion resistance of the film deposited at 9 g/L was about 5.3 times that of the film obtained at 0 g/L, indicating an excellent corrosion resistance. The study can provide the corrosion protection for water or oil pipes, metal containers and agricultural machinery. Published version The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Granted no. 51974089), and the Daqing Guiding Science and Technology Project (Granted no. zd-2020-25).