Structural mechanical and corrosion performance of electrodeposited Ni-Nb coatings

This research paper presents an experimental study that examines the effects of current density on Ni-Nb thin film morphology, structure, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance. Ni-Nb coatings were effectively deposited onto copper substrates using direct current (DC) electrodeposition technique. The produced films were analyzed using XRD and SEM in order to determine the phase structure and morphology, respectively. Electrochemical measurements were conducted on a Corrtest CS 350 electrochemical workstation at room temperature in a 1M HCl solution. The results indicated that the variations in current density resulted in different Ni-Nb morphologies. For current density of 0.01 A/cm2 coatings showed a compact and crack-free. The grains were hemispherical in geometry and acicular. In 1 M of HCl solution Ni-Nb films confirmed that Nb incorporation into Ni matrice demonstrated improvement in corrosion performance.