Fabrication of Ni-Co coating by electrochemical deposition with high super-hydrophobic properties for corrosion protection

By electrochemical deposition, the bimetallic Ni-Co coating with novel hierarchical micro-spherical structures was prepared on carbon steel substrate. The properties including surface morphologies, structures, chemical compositions, wetting properties, as well as the growth mechanism of the electrodeposited hierarchical structure were observed by SEM, XRD, XPS and contact angle measurements. After modification with low surface energy materials, the Ni-Co coating with the hierarchical micro-spherical structures deposited at -1.8 V displayed high super-hydrophobic properties with a water contact angle of around 165 degrees. By electrochemical measurements, the anti-corrosion performances between planar and super-hydrophobic Ni-Co coating were compared. And the latter exhibited excellent corrosion protection for bare carbon steel by limiting the contact area to reduce its interaction with corrosive medium.