Preparation of Cu-Ni-Fe alloy coating and its evaluation on corrosion behavior in 3.5% NaCl solution

In this paper, an attempt had been made to prepare a Cu-Ni-Fe alloy coating for improving the corrosion resistance of the low-carbon steel. The surface heat treatment of coated low-carbon steel was performed at 1000 degrees C for 3 h under hydrogen atmosphere. The structure and microstructure of coatings was separately analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The corrosion resistance of the samples was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization (Tafel) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results indicated that a compact alloy coating was formed on the surface of low-carbon steel and the Ni content had a prodigious impact to the microstructure, composition and structure of Cu-Ni-Fe alloy coating. Apart from that, significant improvements in corrosion resistance were achieved by using the Cu-Ni-Fe alloy coating, which constituting of homogeneous c-phases. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.