Corrosion protection of electrodeposited multilayer nanocomposite Zn-Ni-SiO2 coatings

Multilayer nanocomposite coatings of Zn-Ni-SiO₂ were deposited galvanostatically on mild steel (MS) from Zn-Ni bath, having Zn⁺² and Ni⁺² ions and uniformly dispersed nano-SiO₂ particles. The corrosion characteristics and properties of multilayered nanocomposite (MNC) coatings were evaluated by electrochemical polarization and impedance methods. Such deposition conditions as, bath composition, cyclic cathode current densities (CCCD’s) and number of layers were optimized for peak performance of coatings against corrosion. A significant improvement in the corrosion performance of MNC coatings was observed when a coating was changed from a monolayer to multilayer type. Corrosion rate (CR) of MNC coating decreased progressively with number of layers up to an optimal level, and then started increasing. The increase of CR at a higher degree of layering is attributed to diffusion of layers due to a very short deposition time, failing to give the enhanced corrosion protection. The formation of layers, inclusion of silica particle in MNC coating matrix were confirmed by SEM and XRD study. At optimal current densities, i.e. at 3.0–5.0 A/cm², the Zn-Ni-SiO₂ coating having 300 layers, represented as (Zn-Ni-SiO₂)_30/5.0/300 is found to be about 107 times more corrosion resistant than a monolayer Zn-Ni-SiO₂ coating, developed from the same bath for the same time. The reasons responsible for the extended corrosion protection of MNC Zn-Ni-SiO₂ coatings, compared to corresponding monolayer Zn-Ni and (Zn-Ni-SiO₂) coatings were analyzed, and results were discussed.