Structural characterization of electro-codeposited Ni–Al2O3–SiC nanocomposite coatings

• Ni–Al2O3–SiC and Ni coatings were prepared by co-electrodeposition.
• The metallic and composite coatings showed different morphologies.
• The incorporation of nanoparticles affected the crystallite size of the matrix.

In this study, nanostructured Ni–Al2O3–SiC composite and pure nickel coatings were prepared by co-electrodeposition from a modified Watt’s type bath, with and without adding nanosized Al2O3 and SiC particles, respectively. The structure of the coatings was studied by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The composition of the coatings was also evaluated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results confirmed the presence of a face centered cubic crystalline structure of the Ni matrix for both of the deposition routes. It was also found that the morphology of the pure nickel coating is uniform, whereas the Ni–Al2O3–SiC nanocomposite coatings indicate a protrusive and heterogeneous morphology. Moreover, the incorporation of the nanoparticles significantly affected the crystallite size of the Ni matrix.