Data analysis and study of the influence of deposition power on the microstructural evolution and functionality of metallic phase composite coating

In anticipation for resolution of deterioration catastrophe on metallic materials, researches in the field of corrosion remains. Zn–Ni–NbO2 deposits were obtained on mild steel substrate using D.C. power source. The thermal stability properties of the coatings were determined by micro-hardness evaluations before and after heat treatment at 250 and 350 °C. The surface structure analysis was done by Scanning Electron Microscope and X-ray diffraction while the wear evaluations were obtained and compared. The weight gain and coating thickness were obtained and found to be in correlation with the wear results. The coating developed in this study is recommended for metallic surface improvement engineering applications.


a b s t r a c t
In anticipation for resolution of deterioration catastrophe on metallic materials, researches in the field of corrosion remains. Zn-Ni-NbO 2 deposits were obtained on mild steel substrate using D.C. power source. The thermal stability properties of the coatings were determined by micro-hardness evaluations before and after heat treatment at 250 and 350°C. The surface structure analysis was done by Scanning Electron Microscope and X-ray diffraction while the wear evaluations were obtained and compared. The weight gain and coating thickness were obtained and found to be in correlation with the wear results.

Materials Engineering
More specific subject area

Surface Science and Engineering
Type of data

Value of the data
The resulting data will be useful for materials engineers by guiding them on the reaction of the formulated deposition electrolyte for a specific temperature application.
The obtained data can be used to report on the relationship between the different variable in the study. The data is useful in providing a useful range of additive concentration enough for the improvement of the substrate material

Data
The depositions process was performed at 20 min at a voltage power supply variations between 0.5 and 1.0 V with temperature of 35°C. The distance between the anode and cathode was kept constant while the NbO 2 enhancing additive composition was varies between a concentration of 10 and 15 wt%. The data for the formulation of bath framework is presented in Table 1. The coating thickness, weight gained, coating per unit area data were obtained after weighing the final mass and Table 1 Summarized bath formulation (Zn-Ni-NbO 2 deposition).

Composition
Mass concentration (g/l) gauging the coating thickness. A set of data were obtained from XRD analysis and the plotted into a graph while the microstructures results were generated directly from the PC connected to the SEM-EDS machine. The average microhardness data were obtained from five points for 15 s dwell with 100 g of load. Results show a good progression of coating strengthening effect of particulate with response to its process parameter.

Experimental design, materials and methods
Locally sourced mild steel sheet was sectioned to dimensions of 40 mm × 30 cm × 2 mm while the Zinc sheets of 85 mm × 45 mm × 5 mm with 99.99% were prepared as anodes. The sectioned mild steel specimens were prepared by polishing and grinding using successive grades of silicon carbide paper grit. The chemical composition of the mild steel substrate obtained from spectrometer analyzer as shown in Table 2. Analytical grade chemicals and distilled water were used to prepare the plating solutions with compositions and parameters shown in Table 1. The formulated solutions were then heated to 35°C for easy admix and dissolution of any agglomerates in the bath solution as described by [1][2][3]. The electrolytic deposition of Zn-Ni-NbO 2 deposition fabricated alloy coatings was performed in a single cell containing two zinc anodes and a single cathode at a time [4,5]. The set up was done such that the distance between the anode and the cathode was kept at 10 mm (see Table 3). The prepared cathode and anodes were connected to the D.C. power supply through conducting wires. Applied voltage between 0.5 and 1.0 V was set to run for 20 min in order to successfully produce desired deposited specimens [6]. The results of the variation were seen in Table 4. Morphological, phase orientation, wear and micro-hardness characterizations were done to further investigate the produced deposits and the outcome presented in Figs. 1-5.

As-coated
Heat-treated at 250 ˚C Heat-treated at 250 ˚C