Controlling corrosion of WC-Co by using an amorphous SiC coating

A reduction of WC-Co corrosion was investigated using a potentiodynamic electrochemical test. SiC layers with different thicknesses from 1 to 5 µm were coated on WC-Co by using an ionbeam mixing process. I–V characterization measurements were performed on the SiC-coated WCCo at different conditions: NaOH and H2SO4 solutions and room temperature and 70 °C. The I-V measurements demonstrated that the corrosion current density decreased and the corrosion potential increased as the SiC coating layers got thicker. This finding is evidence that SiC coating layers contact well electrically to WC-Co surfaces and enhance the corrosion properties of WC-Co.