Effects of low temperature thermal treatment on zinc and/or tin plated coatings of AZ91D magnesium alloy

A new method was investigated to obtain composite coatings on the AZ91D magnesium alloy by electrodeposition and low temperature thermal treatment. Zinc and tin were introduced to AZ91D Mg alloy surface by electroplating firstly. And a succedent thermal treatment was carried out at 190 ± 10 °C for 12 h. The surface and cross-section morphologies of the plated coatings with and without thermal treatment were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). And the microstructure was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results reveal that it was difficult to obtain good adhesion plated Sn coating but easy to get well-adherent plated Zn coating. And the thermal treatment promoted the formation of Mg₂Sn in the plated Sn coating and the recrystallization in the plated Zn coating. The plated double Zn-Sn coating owned good adhesion and uniform surface. Furthermore, when the plated double Zn-Sn coating was treated at 190 ± 10 °C for 12 h, a three-layer structure coating was formed due to the diffusion of tin. The results of the anodic polarization behaviors in 5 wt.% NaCl solution show that the three-layer structure coating could provide better protection for AZ91D substrate than the plated Zn-Sn coating.