Influence of double-pulse electrodeposition parameters on the performance of nickel/nanodiamond composite coatings

Abstract

In this study, using 45# carbon steel as the substrate, a first experimental analysis was carried out on the polarisation behaviour of different component wattage plating solutions in order to determine the reasonable content of nanodiamond particles in a nickel/nanodiamond composite plating solution. Secondly, the effect of double-pulse forward and reverse duty cycle and reverse working time on the performance of nickel/nanodiamond composite plating was then investigated by testing the thickness, hardness and surface roughness of the composite plating and observing the surface micromorphology. The experimental results show that, when the content of nanodiamond particles in the plating solution is 5 g/L, the anti-pulse working time, forward and reverse pulse duty cycle of the double-pulse plating parameters are 20, 0.3 and 0.2 ms, respectively, and the composite plating layer prepared by double pulse has good comprehensive performance. This research work provides technical support for the optimisation of process parameters for the preparation of nickel/nanodiamond composite coatings by double-pulse electrodeposition.