Effect of grain size on corrosion behavior of electrodeposited bulk nanocrystalline Ni

Nanocrystalline (NC) and coarse-grained Ni with different grain sizes (from 16 nm to 2 μm) were fabricated by direct current electrodeposition. Effect of grain size on the electrochemical corrosion behavior of these Ni deposits in different corrosion media was characterized by using potentiodynamic polarization test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and immersion corrosion test. Results show that in the NaOH or NaCl solution, the NC Ni exhibits improved corrosion resistance with the decrease of grain size. But in H₂SO₄ solution, the higher grain boundary density accelerates corrosion due to no passive process and the corrosion resistance of NC Ni decreases with refining grain size. The distinct experimental results of NC Ni in corrosion behavior can be reasonably explained by the positive or negative effect of high-density grain boundaries in different corrosion media.