Effects of Cr Concentration on the Morphology and Corrosion Resistance of Ni-Cr Coatings Prepared by the Electrodeposition Process on 25CrMo4 Steel

Abstract

In the current study, Ni-Cr coatings with a various Cr concentrations from 0.1% Cr (up to 0.4 % Cr) were performed on the 25CrMo4 low steel, using the electrodeposition process. The deposition of the Ni-Cr coatings was carried out at temperature of 30°C , direct current density of 2 A/dm2 for 40 min , and a bath containing a Cr2(SO4)3 as source of chromium ions , Cr+. However, the effects of the Cr concentration on the morphology and the quality of the film were investigated. SEM, EDS and XRD analysis were used in order to characterize the Ni-Cr coatings. The SEM morphology analysis exhibited that the Ni-Cr with 0.2% Cr showed the lowest network of cracks and porosity with uniform and compact structure. The corrosion resistance of the Ni-Cr coatings has been investigated in 3.5 wt-% NaCl aqueous solution, using polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. According to the results, it was found that the variation of Cr content in the Ni-Cr coatings greatly affected the microstructure and the corrosion resistance of the coatings. Moreover, the coating developed with 0.2 % of chromium (Cr) can give excellent results as to quality , morphology and corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt-% NaCl environment.

Keywords

• Ni-Cr Coating
• 25CrMo4
• Cr Concentration
• Morphology
• Corrosion
• Electrodeposition

References

1. [1]. M. S. Marwah, V. Srinivas, A. K. Pandey, S. R. Kumar, K. Biswas, and J. Maity, “Morphological Changes During Annealing of Electrodeposited Ni-Cr Coating on Steel and Their Effect on Corrosion in 3% of NaCl Solution,” Journal of Iron and Steel Research, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 72-78, 2011.
2. [2]. M. Aliofkhazraei, F. C. Walsh, G. Zangari, H. Koçkar, M. Alper, C. Rizal, L. Magagnin, V. Protsenko, R. Arunachalam, and A. Rezvanian, “Development of Electrodeposited Multilayer Coatings: A Review of Fabrication, Microstructure, Properties and Applications,” Applied Surface Science Advances, vol. 6, pp. 100141, 2021.
3. [3]. S. Wang, C. Ma, and F. C. Walsh, “Alternative Tribological Coatings to Electrodeposited Hard Chromium: A Critical Review,” Transactions of the IMF, vol. 98, no. 4, pp. 173-185, 2020.
4. [4]. A. Almotairi, A. Warkentin, and F. Zoheir, “Mechanical Damage of Hard Chromium Coatings on 416 Stainless Steel,” Engineering Failure Analysis, vol. 66, pp. 130-140, 2016.
5. [5]. H. Adelkhani, and M. R. Arshadi, “Properties of Fe–Ni–Cr Alloy Coatings by Using Direct and Pulse Current Electrodeposition,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 476, pp. 234-237, 2009.
6. [6]. J. Jiang, X. Ma, and B. Wang, “Positive or Negative Role of Preoxidation in the Crack Arresting of Cr Coating for Accident Tolerant Fuel Cladding,” Corrosion Science, vol. 193, pp. 109870, 2021. [7]. Y. I. Choi, T. Eguchi, T. Asao, K. Kuroda, and M. Okido, “Mechanism for the Formation of Black Cr-Co Electrodeposits from Cr3+ Solution Containing Oxalic Acid,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 161, no. 14, pp. 713-718, 2014.
7. [8]. R. Giovanardi, and G. Orlando, “Chromium Electrodeposition From Cr (III) Aqueous Solutions,” Surface and Coatings Technology, vol. 205, no. 15, pp. 3947-3955, 2011.
8. [9]. S. Mahdavi, and S. R. Allahkaram, “Composition, Characteristics and Tribological Behavior of Cr, Co–Cr and Co–Cr/Tio2 Nano-composite Coatings Electrodeposited from Trivalent Chromium Based Baths,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 635, pp. 150-157, 2015.

9. [10]. V. Medeliene, and E. Matulionis, “Morphology and Corrosion Properties of Electroplated Ni–Cr Alloy Coatings in Salt Solutions,” Protection of metals, vol. 38, pp. 238-242, 2002.
10. [11]. A. A. Edigaryan, G. E. Goryunov, E. N. Lubnin, and Y. M. Polukarov, “Distribution of Components of Binary Nickel-Chromium Alloys Electrodeposited from Sulfate-Oxalate Solutions,” Russian Journal of Electrochemistry, vol. 40, pp. 1266-1271, 2004.
11. [12]. S. Surviliene, A. Cesuniene, V. Jasulaitiene, and I. Jureviciute, “The Use of XPS for Study of the Surface Layers of CrNi Alloys Electrodeposited from the Cr (III) + Ni (II) bath,” Applied surface science, vol. 258, no. 24, pp. 9902-9906, 2012.
12. [13]. X. Z. He, X. L. Zhou, and X. W. Zhang, “Effect of Ni2+ on Chromium Electrodeposition in Cr (III) Plating Bath,” Advanced Materials Research, vol. 150, pp. 1555-1559, 2011.
13. [14]. F. Wang, and T. Watanabe, “Preparation and Characterization of the Electrodeposited Fe–Cr Alloy Film,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 349, no. 1-2, pp. 183-190, 2003. [15]. B. Li, A. Lin, and F. Gan, “Preparation and Characterization of Cr–P Coatings by Electrodeposition from Trivalent Chromium Electrolytes Using Malonic Acid as Complex,” Surface and Coatings Technology, vol. 201, no. 6, pp. 2578-2586, 2006.
14. [16]. V. Eyupoglu, and R. A. Kumbasar, “Extraction of Ni (II) from Spent Cr–Ni Electroplating Bath Solutions Using LIX 63 and 2 BDA as Carriers by Emulsion Liquid Membrane Technique,” Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 21, pp. 303-310, 2015.
15. [17]. A. S. Aghdam, S. R. Allahkaram, and S. Mahdavi, “Corrosion and Tribological Behavior of Ni–Cr Alloy Coatings Electrodeposited on Low Carbon Steel in Cr (III)–Ni (II) Bath,” Surface and Coatings Technology, vol. 281, pp. 144-149, 2015.
16. [18]. L. Xu, Z. Gong, J. Tang, Q. He, N. He, and J. Du, “Ni-Cr Alloy Electrodepositing Technology on Fe Substrate and Coating Performance,” Journal of Central South University of Technology, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 181-185, 2007.
17. [19]. C. N. Tharamani, F. S. Hoor, N. S. Begum, and S. M. Mayanna, “Electrodeposition and Chara-cterization of Ni–Cr Alloy Coating,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 153, no. 3, pp. C164, 2006.
18. [20]. E. Aidaoui, H. Bentemam, O. Belahssen, and T. E. H. Guettaf, “Morphological Structu-ral, Microhardness and Electrochemical Characterizations of Electrodeposited Cr and Ni-W Coatings,” Acta Metallurgica Slovaca, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 234-240, 2018.
19. [21]. H. N. Firouzi, F. Nasirpouri, and E. Moslehifard, “Pulse Electrodeposition and Corrosion Properties of Nanocrystalline Nickel-Chromium Alloy Coatings on Copper Substrate,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 822, pp. 153712, 2020.
20. [22]. S. Shen, H. Li, C. Wang, Y. Liang, N. Feng, N. Zhang, and L. Yang, “Mechanical and Properties and Strengthening Mechanism of Ni/Al Nanolaminates: Role of Dislocation Strengthening and Constraint in Soft Layers,” Materials & Design, vol. 226, pp.111632, 2023.
21. [23]. R. Özdemir, and C. A. Korkmaz, “Investigation of Structural and Magnetic Properties of Co, Ni and CoNi Alloy Thin Films by Fabricated with Electrodeposition,” El-Cezerî Journal of Science and Engineering, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1122-1135, 2022.
22. [24]. P. Sivasakthi, S. Premlatha, G. R. Bapu, and M. Chandrasekaran, “Pulse Electrode-posited Ni-CeO2GD Doped Nanocomposite on Copper Foam As an Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 42, no. 8, pp. 4741-4750, 2017. [25]. T. Ohgai, Y. Tanaka, and T. Fujimaru, “Soft magnetic Properties of Ni–Cr and Co–Cr Alloy Thin Films Electrodeposited From Aqueous Solutions Containing Trivalent Chromium Ions and Glycine,” Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, vol. 42, no. 10, pp. 893-899, 2012.
23. [26]. M. Demir, E. Kanca, and I. H. Karahan, “Characterization of Electrodeposited Ni-Cr/h-BN Composite Coatings,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 844, pp. 155511, 2020.
24. [27]. M. Masoudi, M. Hashim, H. M. Kamari, and M. S. Salit, “Fabrication and Characterization of Ni–SiC–Cr Nanocomposite Coatings,” Applied Nanoscience, vol. 3, pp. 357-362, 2013.
25. [28]. S. S. Chatha, H. S. Sidhu, and B. S. Sidhu, “The Effects of Post-Treatment on the Hot Corrosion Behavior of the HVOF-Sprayed Cr3C2–NiCr Coating,” Surface and Coating Technology, vol. 206, no. 19-20, pp. 4212-4224, 2012.
26. [29]. R. Jafari, and E. Sadeghi, “High-Temperature corrosion Performance of HVAF-Sprayed NiCr, NiAl, and NiCrAly Coatings with Alkali Sulfate/Chloride Exposed to Ambient Air,” Corrosion Science, vol. 160, pp. 108066, 2019.
27. [30]. S. Akin, and E. Akmam, “Investigation of the Potential of Economical Fe-Ni Alloys Produced by Ball Milling as Counter Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells,” El-Cezerî Journal of Science and Engineering, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 24-34, 2022.
28. [31]. Y. Zhang, M. Li, and X. Peng, “Corrosion Behavior of Ni-Cr Behavior of Ni-Cr Alloys in 3.5% NaCl Solution,” Journal of Shenyang University of Technology, vol. 31, pp. 512-515, 2009.
29. [32]. R. A. Mahesh, R. Jayaganthan, and S. Prakash, “A study on Hot Corrosion Behavior of Ni-5Al Coatings on Ni-and Fe-Based Superalloys in an Aggressive Environment at 900°C,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 460, no. 1-2, pp. 220-231, 2008.
30. [33]. H. J. Zhang, and J. Sun, “Oxidation and Hot Corrosion of Electrodeposited Ni–7Cr–4Al Nano-Composite,” Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 191–198, 2015.
31. [34]. K. M. Doleker, and A. C. Karaoglanli, “Influence of Cyclic and Isothermal Hot Corrosion on a Nickel Based Superalloy,” El-Cezerî Journal of Science and Engineering, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 763-772, 2020.
32. [35]. J. Qui, W. Q. Yu, F. Q. Zhang, R. J. Smales, Y. L. Zhang, and C. Lui, “Corrosion Behaviour and Surface Analysis of Co-Cr and Two Ni-Cr Dental Alloys Before and After Simulated Porcelain Firing,” European Journal of Oral Science, vol. 119, no. 1, pp. 93-101, 2011.
33. [36]. O. T. Uygunoğlu, İ. Güneş, A. G. Çelik, and E. Çınar, “Microstructural Characterization and Corrosion-Resistance of Borided Rebar,” El-Cezerî Journal of Science and Engineering, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 1135-1148, 2021.