Electroless Nickel Plating on AM60B Magnesium Alloy via Ti-Zr/Sol-Gel Composite Layer as Pretreatment

The Ti-Zr and Ti-Zr/sol-gel were used as pretreatment layers before the electroless nickel coating on AM60B magnesium alloy. Scanning Electron Microscopy was employed to investigate the surface morphology of the pretreated layers and applied electroless coatings. Chemical analysis of the Ti-Zr layer, and nickel coatings was done using the Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Moreover, the X-ray Diffraction and Atomic Force Microscopy methods were utilized to evaluate the microstructure and surface roughness of the electroless coatings, respectively. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy was employed to study the corrosion behavior of Ni-P coatings. The results show that Ti-Zr layer has structural cracks, and the sol-gel film was covered all cracks entirely. The cauliflower-like electroless nickel coating was applied on both mentioned pretreated layers. The cross-sectional images revealed the higher thickness for the electroless coating on Ti-Zr/sol-gel layer, probably due to a large number of Ni nucleation centers. The EIS results demonstrate that the electroless coating on Ti-Zr/sol-gel has high corrosion protection and microhardness value.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2024).