The effects of pulse plating variables on morphology and corrosion behavior of Zn–Fe alloy coatings

Considerable researches have been focused on zinc–iron (Zn–Fe) alloy coatings due to their superior characteristics among zinc alloy electrodeposits in recent years. The corrosion behavior of these coatings depends on the phase structure and morphology of the Zn–Fe deposits. In this work the effects of pulse plating variables such as current density, off-time, frequency and pulse modes on the morphology and phase structure of Zn–Fe deposits was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analysis. The corrosion behavior of these coatings was measured by means of polarization curves and Neutral salt spray tests. It was shown that pulse reverse coatings exhibit excellent resistance to corrosion in comparison with normal pulse and direct current conditions.