Effect of current density on the microstructure and hardness of Ni-CeO2 nanocomposite coating synthesized by pulse electrodeposition technique.
The Ni-CeO2 nanocomposite coatings have been synthesized by pulse electrodeposition technique with different current densities (0.10, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, 0.70 and 0.90 A/cm2) from a Watts-type electrolyte containing nano-sized ceria particles. The Ni-CeO2 coatings produced with different current densities have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The hardness of the coatings has been measured by Vickers microhardness tester (VMHT). It has been found that the crystallite size decreases and hardness increases with the increasing current density. However, the co-deposition of ceria in the nickel matrix increases up to the current density of 0.5 A/cm2, beyond which it decreases.
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India.
Ranjan
R
Sen
Siddhartha
S
Das
Karabi
K
Das