Effect of Graphene Nanoplatelets Addition on the Mechanical, Tribological and Corrosion Properties of Cu-Ni/Gr Nanocomposite Coatings by Electro-co-deposition Method

Nowadays, corrosion of metals is a major problem faced by marine, chemical and automobile industries. Therefore, several researchers are taking efforts to develop composite coatings reinforced with nanoscale materials for high corrosion resistance. In the present work, graphene nanoplatelets (Gr) are incorporated with Cu-Ni matrix to fabricate Cu-Ni/Gr nanocomposite coatings by electro-co-deposition method. Also, the influence of the various concentrations of graphene nanoplatelets in the plating bath on the surface morphology, elemental composition, microstructure, crystallite size, lattice strain, microhardness, average friction coefficient, wear loss and corrosion resistance of these coatings have been studied. The study shows that the mechanical, tribological and corrosion properties of the coatings are enhanced with graphene nanoplatelets incorporation in Cu-Ni matrix. The measured microhardness for Cu-Ni/Gr (400 mg/L) nanocomposite coating increases by 44.17% compared to pure Cu-Ni coating. Also, immersion study indicates that the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets stabilizes the corrosion potential and enhances the corrosion resistance.