Influence of heat treatment on microstructures and micro-hardness of n-SiO2/Ni composite coating

The n-SiO2/Ni composite electro-brush plating coating was prepared on the 1045 steel substrate. SEM and TEM were utilized to analyze the surface and cross-section morphologies or the microstructures of the composite coating before and after heat treatment, as well as a micro-hardness tester was used to measure the micro-hardness before and after heat treatment. The results show that the entrance of nano SiO2 particles into composite coating makes the micro-hardness higher. After heat treatment, due to the obstruction to growth of Ni crystals from nano particles, the composite coating still possesses a higher micro-hardness than that of common Ni-base coating.