Surface Structure and Electrochemical Behavior of Zinc-Nickel Anti-Corrosive Coating

We report on the electrodeposition of a zinc-nickel alloy using a sulphate bath on mild steel (MS) substrate. The Hull cell experiment was used to optimize the bath composition and operating conditions. Sulphanilic acid (SA) was used as an additive for the coatings. The bath demonstrated an abnormal co-deposition with more zinc being deposited over nobler nickel. The effect of temperature and current density on the coating thickness, hardness, corrosion resistance, and weight % of Ni content in the coating was investigated. The corrosion behaviour of coated zinc-nickel alloy film in sodium chloride (wt.% 3.5) solution was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic approaches. The nickel content in the coatings was determined through the colorimetric method and verified by the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) technique. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to determine the surface roughness and surface topography, of the coatings. The results show that the zinc-nickel coatings had the highest corrosion resistance (0.213 mm y(-1)) at optimal current density (3A dm(-2)). Thus, due to their superior corrosion resistance Zn-Ni coatings have been largely used to protect the mild steel components in many industries including the automotive, military, and aerospace segments.