Wear 254 (2003) 555564

Composite plating of Ni/SiC using azo-cationic surfactants and wear resistance of coatings
Nabeen K. Shrestha a , Masabumi Masuko b , Tetsuo Saji a,
a

Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan b Department of Chemical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan Received 20 August 2002; accepted 23 January 2003

Abstract Inuence of the hydrophobic tail length of a cationic surfactant containing an azobenzene group (AZTAB) on the extent of co-deposition of SiC particles with nickel was studied. The present investigation shows that an AZTAB with shorter tail can co-deposit a higher amount of SiC particles than the surfactant with a longer tail. The anti-wear property of the coatings with different volume percentage of SiC was studied under dry sliding condition in the ball-on-disk conguration of a tribo-tester, and the degree of anti-wear performance of the coatings was evaluated on the basis of their wear scar depth and the wear area. The wear resistance of the Ni/SiC composite coatings was found to be increased with increasing the content of co-deposited SiC particles up to about 52 vol.%. The anti-wear performance of the coating containing 71.5 vol.% of SiC particles was poorer than that of the nickel coating without any incorporated particles. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Composite; Nickel; Silicon carbide; Azobenzene; Surfactant; Anti-wear

1. Introduction From the earliest development of a composite solid, the goals for composite development have been to achieve a combination of properties not achievable by any of the materials acting alone. In recent years, research for development of a metal matrix composite coating containing ceramic particles has been growing in importance due to its high hardness and, a better anti-corrosion and anti-wear properties than that of the metal without any particles. However, these properties depend on the contributions from the distributed and matrix phases of a composite coating. Generally, a large volume fraction of ceramic particles is needed in a metal matrix composite coating since these particles act as load bearing elements. In our previous paper [1], we have reported the two-step composite plating technique, which enabled us to produce a composite coating of Ni/Ceramic particles containing high vol.% of dispersed particles. Although these composite coatings exhibited a good anti-wear performance, the thickness of the coatings was about 9 m or less for 4 h of electrodeposition of nickel. The durability of such a thin composite coating may be poor for heavy-duty engineering
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-3-5734-2627; fax: +81-3-5734-2627. E-mail address: tsaji@o.cc.titech.ac.jp (T. Saji).

works. Therefore, in order to produce a thick deposits, we have carried out a single-step composite plating of Ni/SiC using a cationic surfactant containing an azobenzene group (AZTAB) which enabled us to coat a substrate with about 34 m thick deposit of Ni/SiC composite containing more than 60 vol.% of co-deposited SiC particles in a 30 min of electrodeposition [2]. In this paper, we have reported the efciency of AZTAB with different tail lengths (Fig. 1) for dispersing SiC particles into a nickel matrix and the anti-wear performance of these coatings under dry sliding condition. 2. Experimental 2.1. Reagents All chemicals used in the present studies were reagent grade and used without further purication. The -type SiC particles (labeled as 1 m, Soekawa Chemicals, Japan) were used without purication. The cationic surfactants (AZTAB) were synthesized and puried as described in our previous paper [2]. 2.2. Plating procedure All plating experiments were performed in a beaker (4 cm diameter, capacity of about 75 ml). The composition and the

0043-1648/03/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0043-1648(03)00138-8

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Fig. 1. Molecular structure of AZTAB. Where, n = 0, C0-AZTAB [azobenzene-4 -(oxyethyl) trimethylammonium bromide], n = 2, C2-AZTAB [4-ethylazobenzene-4 -(oxyethyl) trimethylammonium bromide], and n = 4, C4-AZTAB [4-butylazobenzene-4 -(oxyethyl) trimethylammonium bromide].

operating conditions of the plating bath are shown in Table 1. To 50 ml of the nickel bath, AZTAB was rst dissolved and SiC particles were added. This bath was ultrasonically agitated for 5 min and then stirred for 30 min prior to use to ensure uniform adsorption of the surfactant on the particles. An iron plate (30 mm 20 mm 1.3 mm) was cleaned by polishing with the metal polishing reagent, Pikal (Nihon Maryo-Kogyo Co. Ltd.), followed by ultrasonic cleaning in acetone and chloroform for 5 min. This plate was then coated with nickel for 30 min at a current density of 3 A dm2 using the Watts bath having the compositions (without particles and AZTAB) shown in Table 1. This iron plate coated with nickel was used here as a cathode for the composite coating of Ni/SiC for the wear test. An area of 2 cm 1.5 cm in one face of this cathode was exposed at the middle part by sealing other parts with an insulating PVC adhesive tape. A nickel plate with a dimension of 0.05 cm 2 cm 2 cm on either sides was used as the anode. These electrodes were held vertically at a distance of 2 cm apart, parallel to each other. During the electrolysis, the bath was continuously stirred at a constant speed with a magnetic stirrer in order to enhance the dispersion of the SiC particles in the bath. For the reference, nickel was deposited on the iron substrate using the nickel bath (Table 1) without AZTAB and SiC particles. 2.3. Analysis of deposits After electrolysis, the deposits were washed in running water, wiped with a cotton cloth and sonicated at an ultrasonic frequency of 28 kHz in acetone for 10 min in order to
Table 1 Bath composition and operating conditions NiSO4 6H2 O (g dm3 ) NiCl2 6H2 O (g dm3 ) H3 BO3 (g dm3 ) Electrolyte volume (ml) Surfactant (g dm3 ) C4-AZTAB C2-AZTAB C0-AZTAB SiC (g dm3 ) pH Magnetic stirrer Current density (A dm2 ) Temperature ( C) Deposition time (min) 300 60 40 50 03.5 05.0 09.5 15 1 (with HCl) 2 cm long, 7 mm diameter bar, about 300 rpm 10 50 30

remove loosely adsorbed SiC particles from the surface. Finally it was rinsed with acetone and dried in air. Surface and cross-sectional morphology of the coatings was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the percentage of co-deposits was determined using an energy dispersed X-ray (EDX) micro-analyzer coupled to the SEM [2]. Static friction coefcient () of the coatings was determined using a Static Friction Tester (HEIDON-10, SHINTO Scientic Co., Japan) against a stainless steel surface (SUS-304, NICALO Corp., Japan) under the load of 250 gf (2.45 N). Each coatings were subjected to the friction test for 10 times and the average value of the friction coefcient is reported here as the of the coatings. Wear resistance of the coatings was examined under dry sliding condition in air at 25 C by the ball-on-disk method. A SUJ2 bearing steel ball (diameter 11/32 in.) was used as the counter body, which was oscillated on the coating surface under the load of 200 gf (1.96 N) for 5 min at a frequency of 20 Hz with amplitude of 1 mm. The degree of wear resistance of the coatings was evaluated on their basis of the worn surface area (examined using SEM) and the corresponding wear scar depth (determined using a prolometer, SURFCOM, Tokyo SEIMITSU). All the wear tests were conned within the coating thickness. The maximum dimension of a worn surface in the direction of sliding (x-axis) and perpendicular to the direction of sliding (y-axis) was used to estimate the worn surface area.

3. Results and discussion 3.1. Effect of AZTAB on particle co-deposition All the variables except AZTAB of the plating bath were optimized according to our previous experiments [2] and these optimized conditions are shown in Table 1. It has been reported by many researchers that an addition of a cationic surfactant increases the particle co-deposition into a metal matrix. Adsorption of a cationic surfactant develops a net positive charge on the particle surface which prevents the particle from being agglomerated, and hence, increases the stability of the particle suspension in the bath. On the other hand, the developed positive surface charge increases the afnity of these particles towards cathode. In this way, a cationic surfactant enhances the incorporation of particles in the coating. However, the extent of particle co-deposition depends upon the types of surfactant. Ehram [3] has reported the maximum of about 48 vol.% of SiC into a nickel matrix using the oleyl dimethyl amine oxide surfactant, but he used 600 g dm3 of SiC in his plating bath. Helle [4] and, Hovestad and Jansen [5] showed that a uorocarbon surfactant could co-deposit up to about 50 vol.% of SiC into a nickel deposit. Recently, we have shown that an azo-cationic surfactant containing an ethyl group in the azobenzene moiety can promote the co-deposition of SiC particles into a nickel matrix up to 62.4 vol.% [2]. In the present studies,

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Fig. 2. Effect of AZTAB on the extent of co-deposition of SiC under the operating conditions of a nickel bath shown in Table 1.

Fig. 3. CV of 1 mM of AZTAB in an aqueous solution of 0.1 M HCl under the N2 atmosphere at 25 C. Scan rate: 10 mV s1 , working electrode: 0.082 cm2 glassy carbon.

we have found that the efciency of an azo-cationic surfactant (AZTAB) for dispersing the maximum amount of SiC particles into a nickel matrix depends on the length of alkyl group bonded to the azobenzene moiety of the surfactant. Fig. 2 shows the effect of AZTAB with different tail length on the extent of co-deposition of SiC particles into a nickel matrix. An increase in the concentration of the AZTAB resulted into an increase of the particle co-deposition until a certain optimum concentration of AZTAB, beyond which a decreasing trend of particle co-deposition was observed. This increasing trend of particle co-deposition is probably due to the strong adsorption of AZTAB on particles, which might charge the particles more positively, and hence, increases the afnity of these particles for the cathode. Thus, the maximum amount of co-deposited SiC particles was found to be 71.5, 62.4, and 50.4 vol.% by using C0-AZTAB, C2-AZTAB and C4-AZTAB (denition of AZTAB is given in Fig. 1) respectively. These differences on the extent of particle co-deposition are probably due to the difference in the rate of desorption of AZTAB surfactants from the particle surface in the vicinity of the cathode. The cyclic voltammograms of AZTAB in 0.1 M HCl (pH of this solution was 1.06) show that AZTAB is a redox active surfactant and the reduction potential of AZTAB is about 0.15 V versus SCE as indicated by the reduction peaks in Fig. 3. This reduction phenomenon of AZTAB is due to the cleavage of nitrogen-nitrogen bond of the azobenzene moiety in presence of acid [6]. Since, the redox potential of AZTAB is more positive than that of nickel, the free AZTAB surfactants, which diffuse to the cathode surface, are reduced during the deposition of nickel. As a result, the concentration of free AZTAB in the vicinity of the cathode decreases and the adsorption equilibrium of AZTAB in this region is perturbed. Therefore, in order to satisfy the adsorption equilibrium, AZTAB desorbs from the particle surface in the vicinity of the cathode [2], which leads to the deposition of SiC particle at the cathode. These particles

are then embedded under the growing layer of nickel. If a redox inactive cationic surfactant is used, this surfactant adsorbed on particle surface does not desorb which leads to the hindrance of an approaching particle to the cathode surface. Moreover, the surfactant layer adsorbed on the cathode surface also increases the over-potential for nickel deposition [7]. In contrast, AZTAB adsorbed on the particle surface desorbs during the co-deposition process and hence, this particle released by AZTAB does not hinder other approaching particles to the cathode surface. On the other hand, we have shown previously [2] that the presence of AZTAB in a nickel bath hardly effect the deposition of nickel due to its more positive redox potential than that of nickel. Probably these are the reasons for higher efciency of an AZTAB surfactant than other redox inactive cationic surfactants for co-depositing SiC particles. In Fig. 2, a decreasing trend of particle co-deposition after the optimum concentration of AZTAB in the plating bath is observed. This decreasing trend is probably due to the decrease in the rate of desorption of AZTAB from the particle surface in the vicinity of the cathode. At higher concentration of AZTAB, the free AZTAB reduced at the cathode surface is soon substituted from the bulk and hence, the AZTAB layers adsorbed on a particle in the vicinity of the cathode hinder the approaching of other particles because of repulsive interaction between the AZTAB layers adsorbed on the particles. Therefore, the desorption phenomenon of AZTAB from the particle surface in the vicinity of the cathode due to the reduction of free AZTAB at the cathode surface is perhaps the key role of AZTAB surfactants for promoting the higher particle co-deposition. This desorption rate of a surfactant from a particle surface into an aqueous solution depends on the hydrophobicity of the surfactant. In our present case, the hydrophobicity of AZTAB increases with increasing the alkyl chain length in the azobenzene moiety. Hence, the C4-AZTAB is more hydrophobic than

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the C2-AZTAB and C0-AZTAB is more hydrophilic than the C2-AZTAB. Due to these differences, the rate of desorption of AZTAB from the particle surface in the vicinity of the cathode during the composite plating might be in the following order: C0-AZTAB > C2-AZTAB > C4-AZTAB. As a result, the maximum vol.% of SiC particles co-deposited by these three different AZTAB was found to be in the following order: 71.5 vol.% by C0-AZTAB, 62.4 vol.% by C2-AZTAB and 50.4 vol.% by C4-AZTAB (Fig. 2). On the other hand, formation of foam due to the evolution of gas at the electrode surface during the composite plating might have also a little inuence in the reduction of particle co-deposition. The formation of foam generally increases with increasing length of the hydrophobic group of a surfactant [8]. In the case of C4-AZTAB, formation of foam was more vigorous and the foam height was also higher compared to that in the case of C2-AZTAB and C0-AZTAB. As a result of excessive foaming, some particles were brought to the surface of the plating bath by the foam. This phenomenon might have decreased the particle loading of the bath and hence, the particle co-deposition might have decreased to some extent. In the case of C2-AZTAB, the formation of foam was less compared to that in the case of C4-AZTAB, while in the case of C0-AZTAB, it was negligible.

The effect of particle loading, current density and temperature on the extent of particle co-deposition using C2-AZTAB was already described in our previous paper [2]. A similar trend of variation for particle co-deposition was observed in the case of C4-AZTAB and C0-AZTAB, which showed a peak corresponding to the maximum vol.% of SiC particles in the coating under the optimum conditions (Table 1) of these parameters. This type of trend for particle co-deposition is consistent with other type of metal-particle composites [9,10]. 3.2. Morphology of the coatings Surface morphologies of the Ni/SiC composite coatings prepared under the optimum concentration of AZTAB are shown in Fig. 4ac. These coatings had a thickness of about 34 m for 30 min of electrodeposition (Fig. 4d). The distribution of particles is uniform in the case of coatings prepared by using C4-AZTAB (Fig. 4a) and C2-AZTAB (Fig. 4b). However, in the case of composite coating prepared by using C0-AZTAB, we can see the distribution of agglomerated SiC particles throughout the coating (Fig. 4c). From this result, it seems that the rate of desorption of C0-AZTAB is very high which leads to deposit particles faster than the deposition of nickel. Probably, this is the reason for higher efciency of

Fig. 4. SEM photographs of a surface of the Ni/SiC composite coating prepared under the optimum conditions as described in Fig. 2. (a) C4-AZTAB (1 g dm3 ); (b) C2-AZTAB (3.5 g dm3 ); and (c) C0-AZTAB (6.5 g dm3 ). (d) Cross-section of the coating shown in (b).

N.K. Shrestha et al. / Wear 254 (2003) 555564 Table 2 Static friction coefcient and dimension of wear scar of the coatings containing different vol.% of SiC particles Coatings Ni 26-Ni/SiC 47-Ni/SiC 52-Ni/SiC 62-Ni/SiC 71-Ni/SiC SiC (vol.%) 0.0 26.2 46.8 51.9 62.4 71.5 Friction coefcient () 0.215 0.205 0.205 0.215 0.205 0.225 Dimension of wear scar (x y, (mm2 ))a 1.63 1.71 1.68 1.50 1.45 1.71 0.81 0.81 0.79 0.76 0.76 0.87 = 1.32 = 1.38 = 1.33 = 1.14 = 1.10 = 1.48

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a x = dimension (mm) of wear scar in x-axis (direction of sliding); y = dimension (mm) of wear scar in y-axis.

the C0-AZTAB for co-depositing higher volume fraction of SiC particles into the nickel matrix. When the concentration of C2-AZTAB and C0-AZTAB in the bath was less than 2 g dm3 , the surface of the composite coatings contained many pinholes of gas pits. A similar result was observed in the case of C4-AZTAB when its concentration in the bath was less than 0.5 g dm3 . However, at higher concentration of AZTAB, the surface looked smooth. On the other hand, the coatings prepared at a current density of 15 A dm2 and higher were brittle and had many micro-cracks while examining by a SEM.

Fig. 5. Plot of wear scar depth vs. vol.% of incorporated SiC in the Ni/SiC composite coatings.

3.3. Wear resistance of the coatings Static friction coefcients and dimensions of wear scar of the coatings are tabulated in Table 2. All the composite coatings containing up to 62.4 vol.% of SiC were prepared by using C2-AZTAB, and the composite coating containing 71.5 vol.% of SiC was prepared by using C0-AZTAB. Table 2 shows that there is no correlation between the content

Fig. 6. SEM photographs of a worn surface of the Ni-coating. (a) Wear scar and (b) a magnied view of the wear track inside the wear scar. (c) Depth of the wear scar.

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of SiC and the static friction coefcient of the coating. Friction coefcient of all the composite coating containing up to 62.4 vol.% are more or less the same as that of the Ni-coating without any incorporated SiC particles. However, the friction coefcient of the 71-Ni/SiC coating is higher than that of other coatings in the present studies. This higher friction coefcient is probably due to the agglomerated particles in the deposits, which increases the surface roughness of the coating. The surface areas of the wear scars are not signicantly different for all the coatings (Table 2). However, the degree of wear resistance of the coatings could be clearly distinguished by their corresponding wear scar depth. Wear scar depths of all the coatings versus vol.% of incorporated SiC particles are plotted in Fig. 5. Since a counter body can hardly remove or damage the materials from the surface of the highly wear resistant coating, wear scar of such coatings should have shallower depth than that of the poor wear resistant coatings. Thus, the degree of the wear resistance of the coatings is in an increasing order with increasing the content of incorporated SiC particles up to about 52 vol.%. Further increasing the content of incorporated SiC particles, the magnitude of the wear resistance of the coating decreased as indicated by the increased wear scar depth (Fig. 5). From

these observations, it seems that the Ni/SiC composite coating should have an optimum volumetric content of incorporated SiC particles in the nickel matrix in order to act as a good anti-wear material. SiC particles are hard and anti-wear material. Therefore, SiC particles are co-deposited with nickel in order to increase the wear resistance of the metal. When the volumetric content of particles in a composite is small, then the space between these particles in the composite matrix will be large. In such a coating, the counter body may easily tear out the nickel layer in between the particles. In this process, some of the particles incorporated in between these torn out layers are also removed and some of the remaining particles in this worn area of the coating may get exposed to the surface. Hence, the bonding strength between these exposed particles and the metal matrix decreases. As a result, during the further wear mode, these exposed particles are also easily pulled out of the matrix by the counter body. However, when the volumetric content of the incorporated particles are large, then the space between the particles in the matrix becomes small and hence, these particles are tightly held in the matrix, which increases the hardness of the coating. As a result, the counter body could hardly remove these particles from the composite matrix. This is the reason why the wear resistance of the Ni/SiC

Fig. 7. SEM Photographs of a surface of the 52-Ni/SiC composite coating. (a) Before and (b) after the wear test. (c) A magnied view of the wear track inside the wear scar. (d) Depth of the wear scar.

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composite coatings increased with increasing the volumetric content of incorporated SiC particles (Fig. 5). However, this increasing trend of the wear resistance is up to about 52 vol.% of incorporated SiC particles, after which the wear resistance of the coating has decreased with further increasing the particle content. This is probably due to the weak bonding between the nickel matrix and the dispersed particles. When the volumetric content of particles are increased than the optimum, the deposited nickel probably can not bind all the particles tightly within the matrix, and the brittleness of the deposits in such coatings increases. As a result, the counter body can easily damage the surface of these coatings and hence, the anti-wear performance of the coatings decreases. Thus, the 52-Ni/SiC composite coating having 51.9 vol.% of incorporated SiC particles showed the highest degree of wear resistance among all the coatings examined in the present investigation. 3.3.1. Morphology of the wear track SEM images of the worn surface of the Ni-coating without any incorporated SiC particles and the depth of this worn surface are shown in Fig. 6. As is evident in Fig. 6a, a large extent of plastic deformation of the nickel around the perimeter of the wear scar was observed. A SEM microstructural examination of the wear tracks of this Ni-coating (Fig. 6b) shows

the plastic deformation in the direction of sliding, which caused the delaminating of the coating. Such a wear mechanism is due to the poor hardness of the Ni-coating. Incorporation of hard particles such as SiC into the nickel matrix increases the hardness of the composite matrix and thereby reduces the plastic deformation of the coating. Therefore, only a small extent of plastic deformation was observed in the war track of the 26-Ni/SiC, while it is almost absent in the wear track of the other composite coatings containing up to 62.4 vol.% of incorporated SiC particles. The surface morphologies of the 52-Ni/SiC composite coating before and after the wear, and the wear scar depth are shown in Fig. 7. SEM microstructural examinations of the wear track of this composite coating (Fig. 7c) indicate the presence of a high-stress abrasive wear [11], in which the SiC particles have been crushed down by the counter body. A more or less similar type of abrasive wear was observed in all the other composite coatings containing up to 62.4 vol.% of incorporated SiC particles. When the worn surface of the counter steel ball was examined by the SEM, a round shaped wear scar with a diameter of about 0.78 mm was observed in all cases. Because of the spherical shape of the counter bodies, the authors could not measure the wear scar depth of these bodies using the prolometer used in the present investigation. However, a microstructural examination of their wear

Fig. 8. (a) SEM photograph of the wear track of a counter steel ball used for wear analysis of the 52-Ni/SiC composite coating. (b) EDX spectra of the wear track of the above counter body.

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tracks was carried out using the SEM. The wear track inside the wear scar of the counter body used for wear analysis of the 52-Ni/SiC composite coating (Fig. 8a) showed the presence of a few wear debris transferred from the coating. These wear debris were characterized by the EDX spectra of the wear scar of the counter body (Fig. 8b), which shows the presence of a small weak peak of Si, indicating the transformation of a trace amount of crushed SiC from the coating surface. A similar result was observed in all the counter surface of the steel balls used for the wear test of other Ni/SiC composite coatings containing up to 62.4 vol.% of SiC. The wear track of these counter bodies was smooth but it had many thin wear scratches. From this observation of the wear track, it seems that a polishing wear [12] has occurred in the counter body due to the abrasive action of hard SiC particles of the Ni/SiC composite coating. As is evident in Fig. 5, the anti-wear performance of the 71-Ni/SiC composite coatings is poorer than that of the Ni-coating without any incorporated SiC particles. This poor anti-wear performance of this composite coating is probably due to the agglomerated deposits of SiC particles (Fig. 4c). The wear scar of this coating had many abrasive grooves (Fig. 9a), and a plastic deformation combined with the surface fatigue-induced fracture was observed in the wear track (Fig. 9b). The depth of the wear scar of this coating (Fig. 9c)

shows the poorer anti-wear performance than that of the Ni-coating (Fig. 6c). SEM observation of the wear track of the counter body (Fig. 10a) used for this 71-Ni/SiC coating showed the adhesive transformation of wear debris containing a large number of crushed SiC particles from the coating. Amount of this transferred wear debris was so large that it could be observed even with naked eyes. This agreement is also supported by the EDX spectra of the wear scar of this counter body in Fig. 10b, which shows the presence of a well-dened peak of Si. From these results, it seems that the bonding strength between the agglomerated particles and the nickel matrix was not strong enough as compared to that between the uniformly dispersed particles and the nickel matrix. As a result, these agglomerated particles were removed at rst from the coating surface in a rst few runs by the counter body, and were transferred to the counter surface. Hence, these adhesively transferred wear debris on the steel ball had probably acted as a new counter surface for the further wear mode. Since SiC particles are harder than the steel, the steel ball with the new counter surface might penetrate the inside of the coating more deeply than the steel ball alone. This is the reason for the larger wear scar depth of this coating than that of the Ni-coating without any incorporated SiC particles. Because of the hard and abrasive nature of SiC particles, this new counter surface

Fig. 9. SEM photographs of a worn surface of the 71-Ni/SiC composite coating. (a) Wear scar and (b) a magnied view of the wear track inside the wear scar. (c) Depth of the wear scar.

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Fig. 10. (a) SEM photograph of the wear track of a counter steel ball used for wear analysis of the 71-Ni/SiC composite coating. (b) EDX spectra of the wear track of the above counter body.

caused the plastic deformation and produced a surface to a mirror nished in some regions of the wear track, as indicated by the black patches in Fig. 9b. The removal of agglomerated particles from the coating might have created the regions with much less volume fraction of SiC in the composite matrix. These are the regions of the coating where the above-mentioned plastic deformation might have taken place.

coating containing 71.5 vol.% of SiC particles exhibited a poorer anti-wear performance than that of the Ni-coating without any incorporated SiC particle. This poor anti-wear performance of this coating is due to the deposits consisted of agglomerated particles. This result shows that besides the vol.% of incorporated particles in a metal matrix, the wear resistance of a composite coating also depends on the morphology of the deposits.

4. Conclusions A wide composition ranges of Ni/SiC composites can be electrodeposited using AZTAB surfactants. The efciency of an AZTAB for co-depositing SiC particles into a nickel matrix depends on the length of alkyl group bonded to the azobenzene moiety. It has been assumed here that the difference in efciencies for maximum co-deposition of particles with nickel is due to the difference in the rate of desorption of these azo-cationic surfactants from the particle surface during the co-deposition process. The present investigation shows that the degree of wear resistance of a composite coating depends on the volume fraction of particles in the coating and this wear property is shown to increase with increasing the content of SiC particles in the composite matrix up to about 52 vol.%. The

Acknowledgements This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientic Research (No. 14550699) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan. The authors would like to thank Mr. R. Ohki for the EDX data.

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