Investigation of Microstructural, Mechanical, Electrochemical and Wear Properties of CuNi/Al2O3 Nanocomposite Coating

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Erfan Bigdeloyevatan

Mahdi Salimi

Department of Materials and Metallurgy, Metallurgical Research Center, Islamic Azad University of Zanjan.

10.22067/jmme.2025.92920.1202

Abstract

In this study, a CuNi/(2g/L)Al2O3 composite coating was prepared by pulse electroplating and the effect of the presence of alumina nanoparticles on the microstructural, electrochemical and wear properties of the coating was investigated. The inclusion of alumina nanoparticles in the coating reduced the thickness from 33 to 21 μm and increased its compactness. Microhardness studies indicated that the introduction of alumina nanoparticles through the mechanism of dispersed hardness increased the microhardness of the composite coating by 26% compared to the alloy coating. The results of the polarization test showed that the presence of nanoparticles, by reducing the active metal surface and minimizing the penetration of corrosive liquid due to the filling of pores, reduced the corrosion current density from 1.85×10-5 to 1.48×10-5 A/cm2, and consequently increased the corrosion resistance. In addition, abrasion studies showed that the wear resistance of the composite coating increased due to a reduction in the friction coefficient from 0.638 to 0.254 and the wear depth from 12 to 8 μm.

Keywords

Electroplating

Composite

Corrosion

Wear

Microhardness

Subjects

• Surface and Interface Metallurgy (Coating)

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