Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454

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Surface & Coatings Technology

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / s u r f c o a t

Electrodeposition and characterization of nano-structured Ni–SiC composite films

C. Cai a,b, X.B. Zhu b,c, G.Q. Zheng c, Y.N. Yuan b, X.Q. Huang b,d, F.H. Cao b, J.F. Yang a, Z. Zhang b,⁎
a
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China
b
Department of Chemistry, Yuquan Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China
c
College of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, PR China
d
Wuhan Iron & Steel Corp., Wuhan 410080, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Ni–SiC nano-composite coating, which simultaneously composed of both nanocrystalline consecutive Ni matrix
Received 3 November 2009 and dispersed inert SiC nano-particles, has been fabricated by ultrasonic electroplating technique from a
Accepted in revised form 1 December 2010 modified Watts bath containing SiC nano-particles. The influence of mechanical stirring and ultrasonication on
Available online 9 December 2010
the surface morphology of the nanocrystalline Ni–SiC nano-composite film has also been investigated. The
surface morphology, microstructure, anti-corrosion property and electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution
Keywords:
Ni–SiC nano-composite film
of the obtained nanocrystalline Ni–SiC nano-composite film, are characterized using scanning electron
Eletrodeposition microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) system, atomic force microscopy (AFM),
Corrosion resistance transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Hydrogen evolution (EIS) techniques. The results find that, mechanical stirring mainly prevents the sedimentation of the inert
particles suspended in solutions, while ultrasonication mainly prevents the particles agglomeration. In the case
of only mechanical stirring to disperse the SiC nano-particles, the composite surface is cauliflower alike. While in
the case of both mechanical stirring and ultrasonication, the obtained Ni–SiC composite film is much smoother
and composes of particles with the mean diameter of 42.9 nm, and SiC particles are uniformly dispersed into Ni
matrix. Meanwhile, the results obtained by polarization curves and EIS methods show that, when compared
with the traditional polycrystalline Ni film, the obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite film exhibits the enhanced
corrosion resistance in NaCl solutions, possesses much higher electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution in
KOH solutions.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction carried out about the influences of electroplating technological

Composite electrodeposition technology is a method to obtain
functional composite coatings by adding insoluble solid particles to
the electrolyte. These coatings typically contain micrometer- or
nanometer-sized ceramic particles (e.g. SiC [1], TiN [2], SiO2 [3],
TiO2 [4]), in an electrodeposited matrix such as nickel. The composite
coatings have been extensively studied owing to their wide
application in surface engineering. Previous works showed that,
when compared to pure metal coatings, nano-structured composite
coatings usually exhibit enhanced mechanical, magnetic and optical
non-linearity properties [5]. The improvement of these properties
depends mainly on the nature, amount and size of the particles, which
co-deposited in the metallic matrix. For example, as a hardness
covalent bond compound, SiC is used as additive particle in wear
resistance coatings, e.g. Ni–SiC in car engines.
For conventional Ni–SiC composite, the dimension of dispersed SiC
particles is usually in the micro-range, and a lot of research has been
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 571 85615190.
E-mail address: eaglezzy@zjuem.zju.edu.cn (Z. Zhang).
parameters on their properties and co-deposition process [6–12].
Meanwhile, because of the strong agglomeration trend between the
nano-particles, most of the reported nickel-base nano-composite
films are not simultaneously composed of both the nanocrystalline
consecutive Ni matrix and the dispersed inert SiC nano-particles
actually. Owing to the superiority of nano-composite film, ultra-
sonication was used to disperse the nano-particles during electrode-
position [13,14].
Nowadays, numerous works have been developed for hydrogen
generation from water electrolysis [15,16], and the most widely
studied electrode material is nickel, its alloys and compound. Nickel
exhibits a high electrocatalytic activity towards HER (hydrogen
evolution reaction) [17] and tremendous efforts have been made to
enhance the electrocatalytic HER activity of Ni and Ni-based
electrodes by increasing the surface area or by increasing the intrinsic
activity of the material using alloys or composites [18–22]. However,
little literatures have documented the catalytic hydrogen character-
istics of nanocrystalline Ni–SiC composite films in alkaline solutions.
In this paper, the Ni–SiC nano-composite films (both the consec-
utive matrix and dispersed phase are composed of particles in the
nanometer range) with an average particle size of 42.9 nm have been

0257-8972/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2010.12.002
 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454 3449

prepared by ultrasonic electrodeposition. The surface morphology,

corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt.% (mass fraction, hereinafter) NaCl
solutions, and hydrogen evolution activity in 30 wt.% KOH solutions
of the Ni–SiC nano-composite films were investigated. For comparison,
the pure Ni films have also been prepared under the same electroplat-
ing conditions but without the addition of the nano-sized SiC ceramic
particles.

2. Experimental

2.1. Preparation of Ni–SiC nano-composite film

The compositions of the solution and operating parameters for Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of electrochemical cell to obtain deposition.

electrodeposition are shown in Table 1. To solve the agglomeration

problem, SiC nano-particles (mean diameter 40 nm, Alfa, Beijing) capillary was used as the reference electrode and a large bright
were firstly chemically modified with 0.1 g/L sodium dodecyl-glycol platinum foil as the auxiliary electrode. The corrosion resistance and
prior to their addition into electroplating solution [23]. Analytical hydrogen evolution properties of the obtained Ni–SiC nano-compos-
reagents and double-distilled water were used to prepare the plating ite films were evaluated by the polarization measurement and
solution. Before deposition, the electrolyte was stirred by ultrasonica- electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
tion for 24 h to ensure a good dispersion. The polarization measurements were performed using the
A double-electrode cell was utilized to carry out electroplating electrochemical workstation (CH I660A, China). The Tafel curves
experiments. Cathode, made of pure copper with an exposed area of were recorded by sweeping the potential from −0.45 to 1.20 V versus
0.50 cm2, was positioned in vertical plane with anode. A large bright EOCP (open circuit potential) in neutral NaCl solutions at a scan rate of
platinum foil was used as the anode. The distance between cathode 0.001 V/s for corrosion characterization, and from EOCP to the
and anode was fixed at 4 cm. Schematic illustration of the electro- potential more negative than − 2.0 V at a scan rate of 10 mV/s for
chemical cell for deposition is shown in Fig. 1. The platinum foil was hydrogen evolution characterization. The EIS measurements were
fixed to make sure that it remained stable during the intensive stirring conducted in a frequency range from 60 k to 0.01 Hz with 10 mV
of the bath solutions. sinusoidal signal amplitude using an impedance measurement unit
Prior to plating, the copper cathode was polished with emery (IM 6e, Australia). Each experiment was repeated at least three times
papers and velvet, rinsed in double-distilled water and acetone. The to verify the reproducibility of the results. The repeatability of the
electrolyte was stirred by mechanical impeller or ultrasonication in a
couple of mechanical impeller while electroplating in order to prevent
particles sedimentation. For comparison, nickel films were also
deposited with the same electroplating conditions but without
addition of SiC nano-particles.
The surface morphology of the composite coatings was investi-
gated using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM, HIAACHIS-4700 for
Fig. 2, SIRION for Fig. 3). The microstructure was observed by an
atomic force microscopy (AFM, SPI3800N) and an transmission
electron microscope (TEM, JEM-2010). The composition of the
composite films was analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS) system attached to the TEM. The crystal property was evaluated
by X-ray diffraction (XRD, D8 Advance Bruker).

2.2. Electrochemical characterization of the corrosion and catalyzing

properties of Ni–SiC nano-composite films

The electrochemical measurements were performed in a three-

electrode cell in the solutions containing 3.5 wt.% NaCl (pH ≈ 7,
adjusted by diluted HCl and NaOH) and 30 wt.% KOH respectively at
25 °C. A saturated calomel electrode (SCE) coupled with a Luggin

Table 1
Operating parameters for Ni–SiC nano-composite electroplating.

Deposition parameters Amount

NiSO4·6H2O 100 g/L

NiCl2·6H2O 40 g/L
H3BO3 30 g/L
SiC 6 g/L
Sodium dodecyl-glycol 0.1 g/L
1,4-butynediol 0.4 g/L
Para toluene sulfonamide 0.8 g/L
pH 4.5
Temperature 40 °C
Current density 10 mA/cm2
Stirring speed 1000 rpm
Fig. 2. Surface morphologies of composite films prepared under different conditions:
Plating time 30 min
(a) mechanical dispersion and (b) mechanical and ultrasonication dispersion.
3450 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454

number of nickel crystal nucleation (due to their polarization

effects), and inhibit the growth rate of the already formed nickel
crystal grains (due to their special impeding effects) [23]. The above
reasons result in different surface morphology of Ni and Ni–SiC
nano-composite films.

3.2. Characterizations of the obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite film

Fig. 3. SEM surface morphology of Ni film.
results was judged according to the shape of the identical samples,
and the value differences (for example, EOCP and corrosion current for
polarization measurements, while film/charge transfer resistance and
CPE for EIS measurements) between Ni film and Ni–SiC nano-
composite film. In this paper, the reported plots are those with the
middle results, and the scatter of all measured results was less than
100 ± 20.
3. Results and discussion
The obtained Ni–SiC nano-composites are much hard (ca. 580 HV),
possess much smooth surface with silvery white luster visible to the
naked eye, and show good adherence to the copper substrates (the
deposits are difficult to be removed by abrasive paper or file).
To analyze the microstructure of the Ni–SiC nano-composite film,
especially the size of the composite grains, the films are firstly
observed by AFM (Fig. 4) and XRD (Fig. 5). Fig. 4 clearly indicates that
the composite grains (including SiC nano-particles if they indeed exist
in the film) are uniformly distributed in the nanometer range, which
can also be demonstrated by XRD technique (Fig. 5) by using Scherrer
equation (the calculated nickel grain diameter is ca. 42.9 nm in
average). The root mean square roughness of the nano-composite
obtained by AFM is ca. 7.6 nm. In Fig. 5, the diffraction peaks of the
copper substrate are also visible, which may be attributed to the fact
that Pt but sacrificial nickel was used as anode when performing
electroplating. Generally, under the same electroplating conditions,
sacrificial nickel anode can make the deposit much thicker than the
chemically stable Pt anode.

3.1. The influence of ultrasonication on Ni–SiC nano-composite films

Fig. 2(a) and (b) are the surface morphologies of composite films
prepared by mechanical stirring, both mechanical stirring and
ultrasonication dispersion, respectively. The figure reveals that after
dispersed only by mechanical stirring, the film surface is cauliflower
alike and the SiC nano-particles (if they indeed exist in the film) are
not dispersed well and conglobe obviously, whereas after dispersed
by both the mechanical stirring and ultrasonication dispersion, the
film surface is much more smooth and the particles are well-
distributed. Therefore, it can be inferred that mechanical stirring
mainly prevents the particles sedimentation, while ultrasonication
mainly prevents the particles agglomeration.
Fig. 3 shows the surface morphology of Ni film obtained in the
same operating conditions but without addition of SiC nano-particles
in the electroplating bath. Compare Figs. 2 and 3, it can be concluded
that the nano-particles can destroy the preferential growth of nickel
crystals, which is characterized by the linear ravines or trenches
(Fig. 3), and refine the crystal grains remarkably.
Yeh S.H. et al. [24] took the stirring effect into account and put
forward a so-called stirring model. According to Yeh's model, the
transmission process of the particles into the cathode is the control
process of composite electrodeposition. For mechanical dispersion,
it involves agitation to suspend particles in the electrolyte, but
which is less effective once the particles are in suspension (on the
other words, it cannot prevent their agglomeration). The reason for
this is that the gravitation sediments the larger suspended SiC nano-
particles (or particle groups), which makes the transmission process
of the SiC particle groups more difficult and synchronously decreases
their adsorption onto electrode surface more effectively. In com-
parison, ultrasonication not only prevents the particles sedimenta-
tion, but also shatters the aggregated particle groups into smaller
parts due to its high-pressure waves and violent vibrations.
Consequently, ultrasonication leads particles to further homogeni-
zation on a microscopic level [2] and makes the transmission process
of the well-dispersed SiC particles much easier. Meanwhile, the SiC
nano-particles dispersed in the composite coatings increase the Fig. 4. AFM image of Ni–SiC nano-composite film.
 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454 3451

1400
phase are composed of particles in the nanometer range, i.e. the
obtained Ni–SiC composites possess the nanostructure.
1200 However, it is difficult to distinguish the dispersed SiC nano-

Ni (111)
particles from the consecutive Ni crystal matrix from Fig. 4. Fig. 5 also
Intensity(Counts)

1000 reveals nickel diffraction peaks only, which seems difficult to

Cu (111)
demonstrate that SiC is included in the film (if they indeed exist in
800 the film). For this reason, the microstructure of samples is further
characterized by TEM (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6(a) shows the bright-field TEM micrograph of Ni–SiC nano-

Cu (200)
600
composite film. It can be seen that the dark SiC nano-particles
400 (pointed by arrow) dispersed well into the nickel matrix (white), and
few agglomeration phenomenon can be observed. The mean SiC
200 content in the composite film is ca. 0.98 wt.% as determined by EDS,
while the dark part pointed by arrow (Fig. 6(a)) possesses much
0 higher SiC content (ca. 14.80 wt.%). The selected-area electron
30 40 50 60 70 80
diffraction (SAD) pattern of the same sample is shown in Fig. 6(c),
2-Thata(degree)
where the arrow-pointed (220) feeble diffraction rings that corre-
Fig. 5. XRD pattern of the obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite film. sponds to the SiC crystal parameter, is isolated from the visible Ni
crystal parameter with (111), (200), (311), and (400) diffraction
rings. Meanwhile, the element distributing map of Si (white points) of
Ni–SiC nano-composite film (Fig. 6(d)) also obviously reveals the
Suppose the added SiC nano-particles are truly entrapped into the uniform distribution of Si element in the composite.
obtained composite, then it can be inferred that the incorporated SiC According to the above TEM and EDS results simultaneously
nano-particles modify the surface to particulate-like crystals (Fig. 4), (Fig. 6), it can be concluded that SiC nano-particles are indeed
and result in that both the consecutive nickel matrix and dispersed SiC dispersed well into the obtained nickel matrix under the ultrasonic

Fig. 6. (a) TEM bright-field image of Ni–SiC nano-composite film, (b) EDS analysis of the dark part pointed by arrow in (a), (c) SAD pattern of the same sample, and (d) element
distributing map of Si (white points) on Ni–SiC nano-composite film.
3452 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454

electroplating conditions. Consequently, the absence of SiC diffraction 0

peak in XRD pattern must be due to the facts that, either the content of
SiC in the composite film is too low (much less than 14 wt.%) to be -1
detected by XRD [25], or the size of SiC particles is very small [26]. The

Current Density log (i, A)

-2
XRD pattern of the used SiC particles has been taken in Fig. 7. It shows
SiC particles are in the polycrystalline nature of the coatings. -3
Comparing to the standard card, SiC particles was fit to No. 29-1129 Ni
exactly. Therefore, the absence of SiC diffraction peak in Fig. 5 cannot -4
be attributed to their amorphous state in nature. Ni-SiC
-5
Based on the above analyses, under experimental conditions, the
obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite films truly possess the nanostruc- -6
ture, i.e., both the consecutive nickel matrix and dispersed SiC phase
-7
are composed of particles in the nanometer range.
-8
3.3. Corrosion resistance of Ni–SiC nano-composite film in NaCl solutions
-9
-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
The potentiodynamic polarization curves of nickel and Ni–SiC
Potential(V vs.SCE)
nano-composite film in neutral 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution is shown in
Fig. 8. Both of them show an active–passive transition, but the Fig. 8. Potentiodynamic polarization curves of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite film in
polarization curve of Ni–SiC nano-composite film shows a wider neutral 3.5 wt.% NaCl solutions.
passive region and slight more positive corrosion potential than that
of nickel film (may be due to their difference in structure,
nanocrystalline nickel is much easier to be oxidized in the air than its alloys. People mainly took researches on nickel and its alloys
traditional polycrystalline counterpart). For Ni–SiC nano-composite because of the exorbitant cost of platinum. Consequently, the
film, the corrosion current density is deep to 6.645E−7 A/cm2, which obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite films are characterized for their
is much smaller than that of nickel film with 2.039E−5 A/cm2. This electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution in 30 wt.% KOH
indicates that Ni–SiC nano-composite film has better corrosion solutions.
resistance than nickel film. The results also infer that SiC nano- Fig. 10 shows the cathode polarization curves of Ni and Ni–SiC
particles change the structure of the electrodeposited nickel film, or nano-composite films in 30 wt.% KOH solutions, where the drastic
act as inter physical barriers to the initiation and development of fluctuations in the curves indicate the hydrogen evolution. Compare
defect corrosion, hence improve the corrosion resistance of the film the current for hydrogen evolution at the same anodic potential, it can
[27]. The much higher corrosion resistance of Ni–SiC nano-composite be concluded that the electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution
film than that of Ni film can also be confirmed by EIS results of Ni and of the latter is much higher than that of the former. Based on the plots
Ni–SiC nano-composite films immersed in the same neutral 3.5 wt.% shown in Fig. 10, the Tafel solpes of both Ni–SiC nano-composite film
NaCl solutions for 1 h at open circuit potential (Fig. 9). (ca. 502 mV/dec) and pure Ni film (ca. 455 mV/dec) are calculated.
Two EIS plots in Fig. 9 are similar. Each plot contains only one high The results show that, the HER activity of Ni–SiC nano-composite film
frequency capacitive loop, but the capacitive loop of Ni–SiC coating is is much better than the pure Ni film. The result is in good agreement
much bigger than that of Ni obviously. The results show that the with the SEM results (Fig. 2a), where an increase in the real surface
reaction resistance (or film resistance) of Ni–SiC coating is larger than area of Ni–SiC nano-composite film is evident, which may be one
Ni. It also infers that the corrosion resistance of the former is much reason that results in a larger Tafel solpe.
higher than the latter. Fig. 11 shows the typical EIS plots (including Nyquist and Bode
plots) of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite films in 30 wt.% KOH solutions
3.4. Hydrogen evolution activity of Ni–SiC nano-composite film in for 1 h at open circuit potential. Two EIS plots are similar, each plot
30 wt.% KOH solutions simultaneously contains a high- and low frequency capacitive
semicircles. The time-constant numbers of the EIS results have been
To produce hydrogen by water electrolysis, there are two kinds of determined through the EIS diagrams (including Nyquist and Bode
active cathode materials. The first is platinum, the second is nickel and

350 -30000

300
Ni-SiC
Impedance R/ohm

Ni
250 -20000
Intensity (Counts)

Ni-SiC
200

-10000
150
Ni
100
0
50

0 0 10000 20000 30000 40000

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Impedance I/ohm
2-Theta (degree)
Fig. 9. Nyquist plots of Ni film and Ni–SiC nano-composite film immersed in neutral
Fig. 7. XRD pattern of the SiC particles. 3.5 wt.% NaCl solutions for 1 h at open circuit potential.
 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454 3453

0.35
frequency capacitive loops are below the real axes, which indicate
0.30 that both the reactions of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite films with
Ni-SiC KOH solutions are mainly actively controlled [30].
Ni
0.25 Based on the above analysis, the EIS plots shown in Fig. 11 are
analyzed using two-time constants electrochemical equivalent circuit
0.20 (EEC) model (Fig. 12) and Boukamp program. In Fig. 12, Rs is the
Current/A

0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
-0.05
0.0 -0.5
Fig. 10. Cathode polarization curves of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite films in 30 wt.%
KOH solutions.
plots) and the method developed by Wit [28,29]. The results show
that each EIS plot contains two capacitive loops above the real axis.
The high frequency capacitive loop may be caused by the resistance of
the film, while the low frequency capacitive loop is correlated with
the charge transfer resistance for the film reacting with KOH solutions
(to generate hydrogen). Meanwhile, in order to discriminate the
Nyquist plots of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite films clearly, the high
frequency capacitive loops are enlarged and re-plotted as an insert in
Fig. 11(a). Fig. 11(a) clearly shows that both the centers of the low
Ni-SiC
electrolyte resistance, Rc and Rct represent respectively for the
resistances of nickel/Ni–SiC nano-composite films and charge trans-
fer, CPEc and CPEdl for electrode surface capacitance (including
deviation from ideal capacitive behavior) and the double layer
Ni capacitance respectively.
Table 2 lists the fitted EIS parameters (corresponding to the EIS
data in Fig. 10). It can be seen that n1 for Ni–SiC nano-composite film
(0.94) is larger than that for Ni film (0.89), while CPEc of the latter is
-1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5 about two times high than the former. CPEc is the electrode surface
Potential/V capacitance, which is the osculate area between coating and solution.
The larger the CPEc value, the more contact area of coating and
solution. The results indicate that the film surface of the former is
much smoother than the latter, and agree well with the SEM results
(Figs. 2–3).
The film resistance (Rc) of Ni–SiC nano-composite is about three
times higher than that of Ni deposit, which confirms the corrosion
results of the same kind films in neutral 3.5 wt.% NaCl solutions
(Figs. 8–9), and indicates that the former possesses much higher anti-
corrosion ability. Meanwhile, the charge transfer resistance (Rct) of
the former is slightly lower than that of the latter, which indicates that
the electrocatalytic reaction activity of the former in KOH solutions (to
generate hydrogen) is higher than that of the latter, and tallies with
the cathode polarization results (Fig. 10) of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-
composite films in 30 wt.% KOH solutions very well.

(a) -1200 4. Conclusions

-1000 Ni
Impedance R/ohm

-15000 -800 Ni-SiC

-600
(1) Ni–SiC nano-composite coating composed of both the nano-
-400 crystalline consecutive Ni matrix and the dispersed inert SiC
Impedance R/ohm

-200 nano-particles, has been fabricated by using ultrasonic electro-

-10000 0 plating technique from a modified Watts bath containing SiC
0 100 200 300 400 500
Ni
Impedance I/ohm nano-particles. The addition of inert SiC nano-particles into
nickel electroplating solutions can destroy the preferential
-5000 growth of nickel crystals.
(2) The mechanical stirring mainly prevents the sedimentation of
Ni-SiC the inert SiC particles suspended in the composite electroplat-
0 ing solutions, while the ultrasonication mainly prevents the
particles agglomeration.
(3) When compared with the traditional polycrystalline nickel
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
coatings, the obtained Ni–SiC nano-composite film exhibits
Impedance I/ohm
lower corrosion current density (6.645E−7 A/cm2) in neutral
(b) 5 3.5 wt.% NaCl solutions, and possesses much higher electro-
catalytic hydrogen evolution activity in 30 wt.% KOH solutions.
-80
4
Acknowledgements
-60
Phase angle

3 The authors wish to acknowledge the financial supports of the

Ni-SiC
Lg Z

National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project 50771092,

-40 J0830413), The Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Project
2
2005DKA10400-Z15) and The Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education
Ni
of China (Project 200803351092).
-20
1

0
-2 0 2 4
Lg(Frequence,Hz)

Fig. 11. EIS plots of Ni and Ni–SiC nano-composite films in 30 wt.% KOH solutions for 1 h
at open circuit potential: (a) Nyquist plots and (b) Bode plots. Fig. 12. Equivalent circuit for Ni and Ni–SiC films in 30 wt.% KOH solutions.
3454 C. Cai et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 205 (2011) 3448–3454

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CPEc/μF cm−2 9.4054 21.872 6696.
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