Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

Ni-based electrodeposited composite coating exhibiting improved

microhardness, corrosion and wear resistance properties
S.T. Aruna , V.K. William Grips, K.S. Rajam
Surface Engineering Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore 560017, India
Received 26 June 2007; received in revised form 10 January 2008; accepted 10 January 2008
Available online 21 February 2008

Abstract
Nickel based composite coating containing oxide particles was obtained by electrodeposition and the mechanical, corrosion and wear resistance
properties of the composite coatings were investigated. The main aim of this work was to identify a suitable oxide powder which is cost effective
and which on incorporation into the Ni matrix will enhance the microhardness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance properties of the Ni
matrix. The oxide powder used was a composite oxide of alumina yttria doped cubic zirconia (AZY, (1 x)Al2 O3 8 mol% yttria stabilized xZrO2
(x = 10 wt%)) powder prepared by solution combustion process. The present study has shown that by incorporating AZY particles in the Ni matrix,
the synergistic combination of superior wear resistance and corrosion resistance along with improved microhardness could be imparted to the Ni
composite coating. The details are presented in this paper.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Electrodeposition; Composite coating; Current density; Microhardness; Corrosion; Wear

1. Introduction
In recent years, research and development of metal matrix
composite coatings (MMCs) has been gaining importance.
These composite coatings possess enhanced properties such
as wear, corrosion and oxidation resistance, dispersion hardening or self-lubrication relative to pure metal, so that they can
protect the metal substrates more effectively against severe environments during operation [1]. Metal matrix composites find
applications as wear resistant coatings, self-lubricating films
and thermal barrier coatings. However, these properties depend
on the contributions from the distributed and matrix phases
of a composite coating. The MMCs can be produced through
a number of routes including metal processing, powder metallurgy, electrodeposition techniques, etc. [2]. MMCs can be
prepared by electrodeposition technique by the co-deposition of
fine ceramic or polymer particles in a metal matrix from electrolytic baths. Electrodeposition is a low-temperature process
to fabricate nanocomposite coatings in a single step without
secondary treatment. The nickel matrix prepared by electrodeposition, has uniquely high density, minimum porosity and has

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 80 25086250; fax: +91 80 25210113.

E-mail address: aruna reddy@css.nal.res.in (S.T. Aruna).

0925-8388/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2008.01.058

been widely used in the chemical, mechanical and electronic

industries because of their wear and corrosion resistance [35].
One of the continuing goals of the nanocomposite coatings is
the production of coatings with enhanced properties such as
higher microhardness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance.
The coatings of this nature are being widely used for surface
protection of various metal articles, including internal combustion engine cylinders. There are reports on the incorporation of
nanosize SiC, ZrO2 , Al2 O3 , TiO2 , La2 O3 and CeO2 in the nickel
matrix forming nanocomposites [613]. The incorporated inert
particles have played an important role in either enhancing the
corrosion resistance or the wear resistance of the Ni matrix.
There are reports on the synthesis and properties of NiAl2 O3
and NiZrO2 composite coatings [7,9]. Sharma et al. have
reported the wear and frictional behavior of NiPZrO2 Al2 O3
electroless composite coating where in the ZrO2 Al2 O3 composition is in situ formed [14]. The composition was more of ZrO2
(0.287 wt%) and less of alumina (0.025 wt%). However, to the
best of our knowledge there are no reports on the synthesis and
properties of Ni composite coating containing a composite oxide
powder containing more of alumina and less of yttria stabilized
cubic zirconia (AZY).
Among the oxide ceramics, the aluminazirconia system is by
far one of the most useful ceramic nanocomposites. Because of
its excellent mechanical properties, including strength, tough-

S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

ness and wear resistance, as well as its thermal and chemical

stability, the aluminazirconia nanocomposite has been widely
used in the engineering and biomedical fields for materials such
as structural ceramics, thermal barrier coatings and total hip
replacement [15]. In aluminazirconia system, the structure and
properties of the final composites are strongly dependent on the
properties of the initial precursors and composite powders, such
as their homogeneity, particle size distribution and phase purity.
When organized well, the benefits of the individual components
play a synergistic role in the final properties of the nanocomposites [16]. Thus, in the present study nanocomposite powder
containing more of alumina and less of zirconia (90 wt% Al2 O3
and 10 wt% cubic zirconia (8 mol% Y2 O3 stabilized)AZY)
composition was chosen as the distributed phase. This composition may impart both the properties of alumina and zirconia to
the Ni matrix and at the same time the cost of the powder will be
lower, as alumina is relatively a cheaper ceramic compared to
zirconia. We report for the first time the preparation of Ni-AZY
composite coating, its microhardness, microstructure, corrosion
and wear properties.
2. Experimental
2.1. Combustion synthesis and characterization of AZY powder
Biamino et al. have reported the preparation of 20 vol.% t-ZrO2 Al2 O3 by
solution combustion synthesis starting from a solution containing aluminum
nitrate, zirconyl nitrate and urea [17]. For the distributed phase, AZY powder
containing 90 wt% Al2 O3 and 10 wt% cubic zirconia (8 mol% Y2 O3 stabilized)
was prepared by solution combustion (SC) process because of the process advantages of this method [18]. For the preparation of AZY, stoichiometric amounts
of Al (NO3 )3 9H2 O (Merck), Zr (NO3 )4 (Hi-tech trade, India) and Y (NO3 )3
(Y2 O3 -Rare-Earth, India) (dissolved in dilute nitric acid) were used as oxidizers
and urea (NH2 CONH2 ) (Merck) as fuel. Stoichiometry of the metal nitrates and
fuel mixture was calculated based on the total oxidizing and reducing valencies
of the oxidizers and the fuel, such that equivalence ratio was equal to unity
[18]. In combustion reaction, a very porous mass of the oxide compound was
formed accompanied by the evolution of large amounts of non-corrosive gases
and formation of a bright flame. The powders were characterized by XRD using
Rigaku D/max 2200 X-ray diffractometer with Cu K radiation. The particle
size and morphology of the nano-AZY composite powder was determined using
bright-field transmission electron microscopy (JEOL-JEM 100SX). The average
agglomerated particle size of AZY particles was measured using Sedigraph-5100
particle size analyzer. The AZY particles were also characterized by Raman
Spectroscopy (Model Labram).

2.2. Preparation of Ni-AZY composite coating and its

characterization
Nickel sulfamate plating bath was prepared by mixing 300 g/L of nickel
sulfamate solution (50 g of Ni/L), 10 g/L of nickel chloride, 30 g/L boric acid
and 0.2 g/L of sodium lauryl sulfate. The Ni-sulfamate plating bath (200 mL)
containing 20 g AZY particles (100 g/L) in a glass beaker was held at room temperature and its pH was maintained at 4 by the addition of sulfamic acid and basic
nickel carbonate. A pure nickel sheet (2.5 cm 12 cm) and a brass substrate of
the same dimension were used as anode and cathode, respectively. The polished
brass substrate of area 2.5 cm 3.75 cm was degreased with acetone followed
by cathodic cleaning and acid dipping and finally rinsed with distilled water.
In order to ensure uniform dispersion of the powder, the electrolyte containing
the particles was subjected to magnetic stirring (300 rpm) for 15 h before the
deposition process and during electrodeposition the particles were also magnetically stirred at 300 rpm. The electrodeposition was carried out on a brass
substrate at room temperature by using an Aplab 7253 regulated DC power

547

supply at various current densities. The current densities and the duration used
for electrodeposition were as follows: 0.23 A/dm2 for 20 h, 0.77 A/dm2 for 6 h,
1.55 A/dm2 for 3 h and 3.1 A/dm2 for 1.5 h such that the deposit thickness was
40 m based on Faradays laws. The Ni-bath containing the AZY particles
was also subjected to ball-milling for 2 days using alumina balls as the grinding
media and electrodepositions were carried out at different current densities as
mentioned above.
The cross-sectional metallographic specimens were prepared by sandwiching electrodeposited Ni-AZY brass coupons with a copper backup in a Bakelite
matrix followed by mechanical grinding and polishing with Al2 O3 slurry, down
to 0.05 m. The microhardness measurements were performed on 10 different locations on the cross-section of each coating (Micromet 2103, Buehler,
50 gf load). The optical micrographs of the cross-sections of Ni-AZY were
recorded using a vertical metallurgical microscope. The area fraction of particles incorporated in the Ni matrix was calculated from the cross-sectional
optical micrographs using image analysis software (Videopro 32 supplied by
M/s Leading Edge, Australia).

2.3. Potentiodynamic polarization and impedance studies

Electrochemical studies on Ni-AZY coated circular shaped mild steel
samples were conducted using Autolab PG Stat-30 (Potentiostat/galvanostat)
system. The mild steel composition was 0.37 wt% C, 0.28 wt% Si, 0.66 wt% Mn
and 98.69 wt% Fe. In order to minimize the influence of the coating thickness on
the electrochemical measurement parameters, the thickness of the samples was
maintained at 11 1 m. The electrodeposition was carried out at 1.55 A/dm2
for 36 min. The sample was loaded in the Teflon sample holder and the exposed
surface area to the corrosive medium was 0.785 cm2 . The test was conducted in
free air 3.5% NaCl solution (0.6 N). Platinum foil of 1 cm2 area was used as the
counter electrode and Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl) was used as the reference electrode.
The sample was kept in NaCl solution for 45 min in order to establish the open
circuit potential (EOCP ) or the steady state potential. Impedance measurements
were conducted using a frequency response analyzer (FRA). The spectrum was
recorded in the frequency range of 10 mHz100 kHz with data density of 5 points
per decade. The applied alternating potential had root-mean-square amplitude of
10 mV on the EOCP . After each experiment the impedance data was displayed as
Nyquist and Bode plots. The Nyquist plot is a plot of real (Z ) versus imaginary
impedance (Z ). The Bode plot is a plot of log|Z| versus log f and log f versus
phase angle (), where |Z| is the absolute impedance and f is the frequency.
The frequency dependence of the phase angle indicates whether one or more
time constants occur, which could be used to determine the equivalent circuit
parameters. The acquired data were curve fitted and analyzed using EQUIVCRT
program. After EIS measurements the system was allowed to attain open circuit
potential. After getting the stable open-circuit potential the upper and the lower
potential limits of linear sweep voltammetry were set at 200 mV with respect
to the EOCP . The sweep rate was 1 mV/s. The Tafel plot was obtained after the
electrochemical measurements. Omitting the contribution of particles for the
weight loss, the corrosion rates (CR) were calculated from corrosion current by
using the Faradays law [Standard Practice for calculation of corrosion rates and
related information from Electrochemical measurements, American National
Standards, ANSI/ASTM G 102-89 (Reapproved 1994)]:
CR = K

i

corr

EW

where CR is given in mm/yr, K = 3.27 103 mm g/A cm yr, = density in

g/cm3 (density of nickel is 8.9 g/cm3 ) and EW (equivalent weight of Ni) = 29.36.
The microstructure and the components of the coating after potentiodynamic
polarization were studied, using SEM (Leo 440I) with energy dispersive X-ray
analysis (EDAX) attachment.

2.4. Wear studies

To investigate the tribological performance of Ni-AZY composite coatings,
wear tests were conducted on a pin-on-disc tribometer (DUCOM, India) under
ambient conditions of temperature and humidity (30 C, 50% RH) using an
applied load of 9.8 N. Wear experiments were undertaken for specimens in a
semicircular pin of radius 6 mm coated with Ni-AZY. All the depositions for wear

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S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

tests were carried out at 1.55 A/dm2 for 3 h (40 m). Wear tests were conducted
at a wear track radius of 30 mm and 200 rpm (slide speed of 0.628 m/s) to get
a constant sliding distance of 4525 m. The disc used was hardened EN 31 steel
with a Vickers hardness of 750 HV. The coefficient of friction was calculated by
dividing the friction force with normal force, which was recorded by a personal
computer. Each test was repeated three times and the average was adopted as the
experimental data. Before and after the wear tests, the specimens were cleaned by
ultrasonication. Dry wiping was carried out during the experiment to eliminate
accumulated wear particles on the wear track. The wear volume was calculated
using the following equation:

V = R2 (R h)

1 3
(R h3 )
3

where R is the radius of the pin and h is the height loss of the pin. The wear
coefficient was calculated using the HolmArchard relationship [19,20]. The
Raman spectra of the wear tracks on the discs and pins were recorded with a
DILOR-JOBIN-YVON-SPEX (Paris, France) integrated Raman Spectrometer
(Model Labram).

3. Results and discussions

3.1. AZY powder characterization
The as-synthesized AZY powder from SC process was crystalline in nature. The XRD pattern of AZY showed pure cubic
zirconia (JCPDS card no. 27-997) phase along with -alumina
(JCPDS card no. 10-173) phase. The crystallite sizes calculated
from XRD line broadening were found to be 21 and 23 nm,
respectively for Al2 O3 and ZrO2 peaks of AZY powder pattern.
In the TEM, alumina was seen as the bright phase and zirconia
as the dark phase (Fig. 1). As measured by transmission electron
micrographs, the average particle size of Al2 O3 was 60 nm and
that of ZrO2 was 40 nm. The powder density of AZY powder
was 3.446 g/cm3 . Even though the particles were in nanosize
(from TEM), the particles were agglomerated to a larger extent
with an average agglomerated particle size of 8 m as determined by particle size analysis. The Raman spectrum of AZY
powder showed a broad peak at 630 cm1 (Fig. 2). The Raman
spectrum of -Al2 O3 shows a peak at 644 cm1 corresponding
to the A1g mode [21]. In theory, cubic zirconia has only one

Fig. 1. Transmission electron micrograph of as-synthesized AZY powder.

Fig. 2. Raman spectrum of as-prepared AZY powder.

Raman active mode at 604 cm1 corresponding to F2g mode,

but in practical Raman spectrum, we observe a broad peak from
530 to 670 cm1 [22]. The Raman peak observed in the AZY
powder coincides more closely with the alumina peak and since
the composition of AZY contains more of alumina the peak was
assigned to alumina.
3.2. Ni-AZY coating characterization by XRD, SEM,
microhardness and optical microscopy
The XRD patterns of Ni-AZY composite coatings electrodeposited at various current densities are shown in Fig. 3. The
X-ray diffraction patterns of Ni-AZY composite coatings electrodeposited at all the current densities showed Ni (2 2 0), Ni
(2 0 0) and Ni (1 1 1) reflections (Fig. 3). The most intense
reflection for Ni was (1 1 1) for all the coatings except the one
electrodeposited at 0.23 A/dm2 which exhibited Ni (2 2 0) reflection as the most intense peak (Fig. 3). The X-ray diffraction
patterns of Ni-AZY electrodeposited at lower current densities
(0.23 and 0.77 A/dm2 ) showed the peaks corresponding to Al2 O3 and cubic zirconia along with the Ni peaks. This is an
evidence for the incorporation of higher volume % of particles
at lower current densities. Pure Ni electrodeposited from nickel

Fig. 3. XRD patterns of Ni-AZY coatings electrodeposited at various current

densities.

S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

sulfamate bath at various current densities showed a definite

orientation of (2 0 0) planes parallel to the surface, i.e., a highly
preferred 1 0 0 growth direction for higher current densities
and (1 1 1) for lower current density [23]. A similar observation
has been reported by McCormack et al. [24]. There are a large
number of factors like adsorbed hydrogen, nickel hydroxide,
plating time, current density, presence of second phase particles, etc., which determine the orientation of planes [25,26]. The
exact role of the particles and the applied current density on the
preferred orientation of Ni requires a detailed investigation. The
Ni crystallite sizes as calculated for the most prominent Ni peak
using DebyeScherrer formula were in the range of 2333 nm.
The Raman spectra of the Ni-AZY coating on brass coupon also
showed a single broad peak as that of the AZY powder confirming the incorporation of the powder. Raman scattering from
materials with metallic properties is restricted by prohibitive
selection rules, low penetration depth of incident light, etc.,
hence the resulting penetration depth is small and we do not
see any peaks for Ni.
The scanning electron micrographs of Ni-AZY composite
coatings cross-section (Fig. 4) exhibited irregular shaped bigger
agglomerated particles. Similar shaped particles were observed
in Ni-Al2 O3 coatings also [23]. These agglomerates seem to be
unique for the combustion synthesized alumina powders. The
optical micrographs of the cross-section of the composite coatings after etching (1:1 mixture of acetic acid and nitric acid for
30 s) clearly showed the presence of intact particles (Fig. 5).
The Ni matrix exhibited lamellar structure along with columnar structure and the extent of this lamellarity increased with
increasing current density (Fig. 5). Similar lamellarity has been
observed with pure Ni coating also [23].
As expected there was an increase in the microhardness of
the Ni composite coatings after the addition of AZY particles (Fig. 6). On ball-milling the AZY particles, there was a
slight improvement in the microhardness values of the coatings
electrodeposited at lower current density (Fig. 6). The highest
microhardness was exhibited by the composite electrodeposited
at 0.23 A/dm2 . It has been observed that when the powder
had a wide range of particle sizes, at lower current densities

Fig. 4. Scanning electron micrograph of the Ni-AZY cross-section.

549

Fig. 5. Cross-sectional optical micrographs of etched Ni-AZY coatings electrodeposited at (a) 0.23 A/dm2 , (b) 0.77 A/dm2 and (c) 1.55 A/dm2 .

smaller particles were incorporated in the Ni matrix which in

turn leads to higher microhardness [27]. The area fraction of
particles incorporated was in the range of 1017% as calculated
from image analysis software. Higher the number of particles
incorporated in the Ni matrix, higher was the microhardness
values. The volume % of AZY particles incorporated in the Ni

Fig. 6. Plots of microhardness vs. the applied current density used for electrodepositing Ni-AZY composite coatings.

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S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

matrix as determined by gravimetry method were in the range of

48.
3.3. Potentiodynamic polarization and impedance studies
of Ni-AZY coating
3.3.1. Corrosion studies
The corrosion potential of Ni-AZY shifted towards more
positive side (Ecorr value of 0.261 V) than Ni (Ecorr value of
0.304 V) indicating nobler behavior of Ni-AZY coating. The
Ni-AZY coating showed a lower icorr value of 0.3782 A/cm2
(0.6759 A/cm2 for Ni) and higher Rp value of 31,990  cm2
(28,740  cm2 for Ni) compared to plain Ni coating [13]. The
corrosion behavior was also investigated by impedance spectroscopy method. The Nyquist plots of Ni and Ni-AZY coatings
appeared as single semicircles. The presence of Warburg component for Ni was apparent from the Nyquist plot and this
aspect has already been discussed in our earlier paper [13].
Fig. 7 shows the impedance spectra of Ni and Ni-AZY coatings on mild steel in a Bode plot representation. The observed
Bode plot of Ni-AZY is different from Ni-CeO2 , wherein two
constant phase elements could be assigned [13]. Bode plot of
Ni-AZY shows a broad peak similar to Ni, except with a difference in the phase angle and log|Z| values. In the Bode plot
(Fig. 7), the Ni-AZY possesses lowest phase angle indicating
higher inhomogeneity of the surface. Based on the Bode plot,
Warburg component fitted well and the equivalent circuit of NiAZY coating is shown in Fig. 8. The fitted values are as follows:
Rs , 18 2  cm2 (14 1  cm2 for Ni); Qc , 0.033 6 F/cm2
(0.097 2 F/cm2 for Ni); nc , 0.743 0.5 (0.85 0.3 for Ni);

Fig. 7. Bode plots of (a) Ni (after Ref. [13], Fig. 10a) and (b) Ni-AZY coated
mild steel samples.

Fig. 8. The equivalent circuit for Ni-AZY coating.

Rct , 35 1 k cm2 (23 2 k cm2 for Ni). Ni-AZY showed

higher Warburg resistance 7909 5 m cm2 (s)1/2 compared to
Ni (634 6 m cm2 (s)1/2 ). The higher Rct value for Ni-AZY
coating confirms improved corrosion resistance compared to
Ni. The corrosion rates calculated from Faradays laws were
7.04 103 mm/yr and 3.94 103 mm/yr for Ni and Ni-AZY,
respectively [28].
3.3.2. SEM studies
The morphology and corrosion features of Ni-AZY coated
mild steel samples after the electrochemical studies were
inspected by SEM. The SEM of Ni-AZY coating after potentiodynamic polarization studies (Fig. 9) shows the presence of
Ni grains along with irregular shaped black AZY particles. The

Fig. 9. Scanning electron micrographs of Ni-AZY corroded samples at two

different magnifications.

S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

EDX analysis on black particles shows the presence of 26% Al,

9.6% Zr indicating the presence of AZY agglomerate. The Ni
grains in Ni-AZY are having different shapes and sizes unlike
plain Ni and Ni-CeO2 [13]. A lot of in-homogeneity in Ni grains
has been observed for Ni-AZY which is also evident from the nc
value. This may be due to the presence of two different types of
particles in the coating namely alumina and zirconia having different shapes and sizes. Unlike the Ni sample, Ni-AZY did not
show any visible localized corrosion pits which indicate homogeneous corrosion for Ni-AZY. The observed higher Warburg
resistance of Ni-AZY may be visualized as follows; the Ni grains
below the particles offer a different resistance to the chloride ion
compared to the Ni grains surrounding the particles. Thus there
is a difference in the mass transport phenomena which could
have lead to higher Warburg resistance [29]. The EDX analysis
of the surface showed 1.6% Al, 95% Ni and 0.71% Fe throughout the sample. This clearly indicates the absence of localized
corrosion in Ni-AZY coating unlike the one observed with Ni
[13]. Thus the electrolytic co-deposition of AZY-particles with
nickel has improved the corrosion resistance of Ni matrix in
chloride solutions.
3.4. Wear studies
The plots of wear loss versus sliding distance and coefficient of friction versus sliding distance of Ni-AZY coatings are
shown in Fig. 10a and b. Ni-AZY exhibited lower coefficient of
friction (0.457) compared to Ni (0.517). Ni-AZY coating exhibited lower wear loss of 6.1 m (15.6 m for Ni). The lower
friction coefficient of Ni-AZY is because of the higher microhardness of the composite which reduces the true contact. The
wear volume for Ni-AZY was lower (0.7 103 mm3 ) than Ni
(4.6 103 mm3 ). The wear resistance of Ni-AZY is 6.5 times
that of Ni. Ni-AZY exhibited a lower wear coefficient value

Fig. 10. (a) Plot of wear loss vs. sliding distance for Ni-AZY coating. (b) Plot
of coefficient of friction vs. the sliding distance for Ni-AZY coating.

551

Fig. 11. Raman spectrum of wear tracks of the disc after wear testing tested
with Ni-AZY coated pins.

(0.84 107 ) than Ni (5.10 107 ). The wear coefficient values indicate burnishing type mild wear for both Ni and Ni-AZY
coatings. There was a transfer of material from the pin to the
disk and was evident from the Raman spectrum taken on the
wear tracks. The Raman spectrum clearly showed the presence
of a single broad peak at 640 cm1 confirming the transfer of
material from the pin to the disk which corresponds to the presence of alumina (Fig. 11). Although the major wear mechanism
is same for both the samples, the wear rates are significantly different. The wear rate of Ni and Ni-AZY are 14 1012 m1 and
12 1013 m1 . The wear tracks of Ni-AZY exhibited a lower
surface roughness compared to Ni (Fig. 12). Wear tracks on the
disc and pin showed lot of fine grooves and polishing of adhesive
wear type. Thus the wear studies revealed very good tribological characteristics for Ni-AZY with low coefficient of friction,
lower wear volume and lower wear rate. It is well documented
in literature that the wear resistance of zirconia increases with
the fourth power of its fracture toughness [30]. It is reported in
the literature that in general the introduction of a harder reinforcing phase in the ductile matrix by a certain volume fraction
can reduce ductility of the matrix material in the contact region

Fig. 12. Wear surface profiles of the wear track of the discs worn out by (a) Ni
and (b) Ni-AZY coated brass pins.

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S.T. Aruna et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 468 (2009) 546552

and wear of the matrix can be reduced as a result [31]. Thus,

the fraction of AZY particles that were incorporated in the Ni
matrix had been sufficient to improve the wear resistance of the
Ni matrix.
4. Conclusions
In conclusion, the AZY particles were successfully incorporated into the Ni matrix and as expected the microhardness of the
composite coatings increased (300 to 600 HK). However, the
particles are agglomerated to a larger extent. Future studies are
aimed at reducing the agglomeration by using ultrasonication
and polyelectrolyte dispersants. The Ni-AZY composite coating exhibited better corrosion resistance compared to plain Ni.
It was also interesting to see a difference in the Bode plot of NiAZY compared to other composite coatings (e.g. Ni-CeO2 ). A
Warburg component was introduced to explain the Bode plot and
also to fit the circuit with least errors. The SEM of the corroded
sample showed the presence of different shapes of Ni grains and
also the presence of intact AZY particles. Uniform corrosion
was observed in Ni-AZY coating. It was also interesting to see
that the AZY particles lowered the coefficient of friction value
for the Ni matrix. The wear resistance of Ni-AZY was found to
be 6.5 times that of Ni.
The present study has shown that by adding yttria stabilized
zirconia to alumina, the synergistic combination of superior
wear resistance and corrosion resistance along with improved
microhardness were imparted to the Ni matrix. Because of the
combined wear, corrosion resistance and higher microhardness,
Ni-AZY composite coating may find a lot of engineering applications like Ni-SiC.

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The authors gratefully acknowledge the task force on custom tailored specialty materials for the financial assistance. The
authors thank the Director, NAL for permission to publish this
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