Deposition,Characterization and Evaluation of Monolayer and Multilayer Ni,Ni–P and Ni–P–Nano ZnO<Subscript>p</Subscript> Coatings

Ni, Ni–P and Ni–P–ZnO_p monolayer films along with multilayer coatings containing different arrangements of these layers were produced on steel substrates by electrodeposition and electroless deposition techniques. Co-deposition of ZnO nano-particles, as well as morphology, cross-section, microstructure and microhardness of coatings were investigated. Corrosion behaviors of monolayer coatings were studied by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques, and the results were compared to multilayer films. Results revealed that, Ni–P–1.5 vol% ZnO_p monolayer film obtained from a bath with 4 g L^?1 of these particles had the highest hardness between all samples. Further addition of nano-particles to the bath lead to the formation of discontinuous films. Most of the multilayer coatings with different arrangements exhibited higher corrosion resistance as compared to monolayer films. Corrosion current density of three-layer Ni–P–ZnO_p/Ni/Ni–P coating, considered as the most corrosion resistant film, was about 538 times lower than monolayer Ni–P coating.