Electrodeposition and Characterization of Nickel–TiN Microcomposite Coatings

Abstract

Nickel-TiN microcomposite coatings were successfully produced on copper substrate using a nickel Watts bath containing TiN microparticles via a DC electrodeposition method. The composite microstructure was characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the morphology of Ni-TiN microcomposite coating is sensitively dependent on the TiN microparticles concentration in the Watts bath. The corrosion behavior of the composite coatings was evaluated by anodic potentiodynamic polarization and open circuit potential measurements. The results also demonstrate that the incorporation of TiN microparticles into the nickel matrix significantly improves corrosion resistance in a 3.5% NaCl solution. Moreover, the Ni-TiN microcomposite coatings exhibit a higher hardness than a pure Ni coating.