Mechanical Properties and Electrochemical Behavior of Electroless Ni-P-AlN Nanocomposite Coating

Ni-P electroless coatings have already proven their ability to improve the tribological properties of various materials. This is possible due to their high hardness, good wear and corrosion resistance. However, the inclusion of AlN nanoparticles into Ni-P matrix can enormously enhance their properties. The aim of the present paper is to develop electroless Ni-P-AlN composite coatings as well as studying the effect of the incorporation of AlN particles on the structure, electrochemical, and mechanical properties of Ni-P alloy coating was studied. The morphology of the coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. In addition, X-ray diffraction was conducted to characterize the structure of the coatings. The microstructural study showed that a uniform and fine-grained coating was accessible while using aluminum nitride. The addition of AlN particles resulted in higher hardness values and improved the wear resistance of the Ni-P coating. Another attainment of this study was to investigate the effect of heat treatment on the attributes of Ni-P-AlN composite coating, which results showed heat treating at 400 degrees C for 1 h led to the improvement of the chemical and mechanical properties on both the Ni-P and the Ni-P-AlN coatings. The maximum hardness value obtained was 870 HV100 after performing the heat treatment on the nanocomposite coating. The same sample revealed a lower wear rate compared with that of the other samples. Also, the presence of AlN nanoparticles as well as heat treatment resulted in the significant enhancement of the corrosion resistance compared with that of the Ni-P coating. Graphic Abstract