Study of corrosion and superhydrophobicity behavior of Nickel- SiO2 nanocomposite coatings

Nickel- Silica (SiO2) nanocomposite films with various SiO2 contents (0, 2, 5 and 10 g/l) were prepared using a nickel watts plating bath. After deposition of nanocomposite coatings, the surface of coatings were treated by silane base composition by self-assemble method. The nano composite films were characterized by means of XRD, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electronic microscope. Their water repellencies were also measured. Corrosion performance of the coatings was examined using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that the Ni-SiO2 nanocomposite coating has corrosion resistance better than the Ni coating. Also, adding silica nanoparticles ends to increase the roughness and better water repellency. The corrosion current in the nano composite coating with 10 g/l SiO2 was 0.4 μA/cm2 and for pure nickel coating was 2 μA/cm2.