Study on microstructure and properties of electrodeposited Ni–W alloy coating with glycolic acid system

In this paper, Ni–W alloy coatings were prepared by electrodeposition technique with glycolic acid as a complexing agent for the first time. The microstructure and properties of the coatings were characterized and analyzed by employing X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The results show that for the Ni–W alloy coatings with glycolic acid as complexing agent, the crystal grains are fine and compact and the surface is smooth. Compared to the coatings with conventional complexing agent of citric acid, the wear lost rate and corrosion rate decrease by 45% and 35%, respectively, while the current efficiency increases by 60%.

Research highlights▶ In this paper, the electrodeposited Ni–W alloy coatings were prepared with glycolic acid as a complexing agent. The microstructure and properties of the coatings were characterized and analyzed by employing X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). In contrast to coatings with conventional complexing agent of citric acid, the wear lost rate and corrosion rate of coatings with glycolic acid as a complexing agent decrease, while the current efficiency increases.