Effect of electrodeposition methods on corrosion resistance of Ni-SiC nanocomposite coatings

Ni-SiC nanocomposite coatings were prepared on 45 steel by direct current (DC), pulse current (PC) and ultrasonic pulse electrodeposition (UPC) methods, respectively. The effect of processing methods on microstructures, components and corrosion resistances was investigated. The results illuminate that the Ni-SiC coating synthesized by UPC deposition method possess a compact and exiguous morphology. The average grain size of Ni and SiC in Ni-SiC coatings prepared by DC method is 175.4 and 81.5 nm, while that synthesized by UPC method is 74.8 and 36.3 nm, respectively. SEM and EDS show that electrodeposition method has great influence on the corrosion resistance of coatings, and the coating prepared by UPC deposition has better corrosion resistance than that by DC and PC deposition.