The effectiveness of Ni@SiTiCNO nanocomposite coating for protecting steel used in agricultural machinery dealing with animal waste

Because corrosive environments are created, agricultural equipment used in livestock farms and poultry houses that handle animal waste is vulnerable to corrosion. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to increase the corrosion resistance of AISI 1020 low-carbon steel by applying protective Ni@SiTiCNO nanocomposite coatings using the electrodeposition technique, where ‘@’ denotes the incorporation of nanoparticles into the matrix, not a core-shell structure. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM, QUANTA EG) with an energy dispersive X-ray system (FE-SEM, EDS), and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) have all been used to study the structure and morphology of the SiTiCNO nanoparticle. Additionally, the surface area and optical characteristics were examined. During the deposition process, various SiTiCNO nanoparticle concentrations (0–2 g/L) and current densities (3–5 A/dm2) were employed. The surface morphology, corrosion resistance (in urea 3.5%), and abrasion behavior have all been thoroughly examined. According to the corrosion resistance results, uncoated steel had a high corrosion rate (0.556 mm/a), whereas Ni@SiTiCNO deposited at 5/Adm2 from the Watts electrolyte bath containing 2 g/L SiTiCNO nanoparticle had the lower corrosion rate (0.008 mm/a) means the highest corrosion resistance.