Electrodeposition mechanism of Ni-Al composite coating

Ni-Al composite coatings were electrodeposited from a modified Watts solution. The electrochemical behavior of the coatings was studied by means of zeta potential analysis, voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy（EIS）. It was found that the zeta potential of Al particles was-4 m V which is very close to that of Al2O3. Moreover, addition of conductive Al particles into the electrolyte shifted the polarization curve to more negative potentials and loop size of EIS curve increased. It was also demonstrated that the co-deposition behavior of Ni-Al composite coatings obeys the Guglielmi’s model. The results indicate that conductive Al particles behave as the inert particles and confirm the existence of a thin aluminum oxide layer on the surface of aluminum particles.

Corrosion performance and tribological behavior of diamond-like carbon based coating applied on Ni−Al−bronze alloy

The effect of diamond-like carbon(DLC)coating(fabricated by cathodic arc deposition)on mechanical properties,tribological behavior and corrosion performance of the Ni−Al−bronze(NAB)alloy was investigated.Nano-hardness and pin-on-plate test showed that DLC coating had a greater hardness compared with NAB alloy.Besides,the decrease in friction coefficient from 0.2 for NAB substrate to 0.13 for the DLC-coated sample was observed.Potentiodynamic polarization and EIS results showed that the corrosion current density decreased from 2.5μA/cm2 for bare NAB alloy to 0.14μA/cm2 for DLC-coated sample in 3.5 wt.%NaCl solution.Moreover,the charge transfer resistance at the substrate−electrolyte interface increased from 3.3 kΩ·cm2 for NAB alloy to 120.8 kΩ·cm2 for DLC-coated alloy,which indicated an increase in corrosion resistance due to the DLC coating.

Mechanical Properties of Ni-Coated Single Graphene Sheet and Their Embedded Aluminum Matrix Composites

The effects of Ni coating on the mechanical behaviors of single graphene sheet and their embedded Al matrix composites under axial tension are investigated using molecular dynamics （MD） simulation method. The results show that the Young＇s moduli and tensile strength of graphene obviously decrease after Ni coating. The results also show that the mechanical properties of Al matrix can be obviously increased by embedding a single graphene sheet. From the simulation, we also find that the Young＇s modulus and tensile strength of the Ni-coated graphene/Al composite is obviously larger than those of the uncoated graphene/Al composite. The increased magnitude of the Young＇s modulus and tensile strength of graphene/Al composite are 52.27% and 32.32% at 0.01 K, respectively, due to Ni coating. By exploring the effects of temperature on the mechanical properties of single graphene sheet and their embedded Al matrix composites, it is found that the higher temperature leads to the lower critical strain and tensile strength.

Coating of Fe, Ni on α-alumina microspheres by heterogeneous precipitation

The precursors with NiCO3·2Ni（OH）2·2H2O, Fe2O3·nH2O coated alumina microspheres were prepared by the aqueous heterogeneous precipitation using metal salts, ammonium bicarbonate and α-Al2O3 micropowders as the starting materials. Magnetic metal Ni, α-Fe coated alumina, core-shell structural microspheres were successfully obtained by thermal reduction of the precursors at 700℃ for 2h, respectively. Powders of the precursors and the resultant metal （Ni, α-Fe） coated alumina micropowders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that optimized precipitation parameters are concentration of alumina micropowders of 15g/L, rate of adding reactants of 5mL/min and pH value of 7.5. And under the optimized conditions, the spherical precursors without aggregations or agglomerations are obtained, then transferred into Ni, α-Fe coated alumina microspheres by thermal reduction. It is possible to adjust metal coating thicknesses and fabricate a multilayer structured metal/ceramics, core-shell microspherical powder materials.