Effect of Particle Size of Tungsten Carbide on Weight Percent of Carbide in Ni-WC Nano-composite

More recently, nickel-tungsten carbide composites are receiving attention as possible wear-resistant coatings for high temperature applications. In this paper, the electrochemical production of Ni-WC nano composite has been investigated by applying direct current (DC). Moreover, three types of carbide with different particle size (purchased, produced by combustion synthesis also known as self-propagating high temperature (SHS) and ball-mill) was used as reinforcement phase. Then composition and morphology of resulted deposit was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and EDX analysis. The grain size was calculated by Scherrer formula using Xpert High Score software. The evolution of carbide incorporation of Ni-WC nano composite was also investigated by Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction using MAUD software. It was found that the amount of embedded WC and thus hardness of composite increases with decrease in particle size of tungsten carbide in the bath. Measurements showed that the grain sizes were between 16-20 nanometers.