Anticorrosive property of Al coatings on sintered NdFeB substrates via plasma assisted physical vapor deposition method

An Al coating was achieved on NdFeB substrate via plasma assisted physical vapor deposition method. The coatings were treated with trivalent chromium passivation and were characterized by a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The adhesive strength between the coatings and NdFeB substrates was evaluated by tensile test. The coatings achieve much higher adhesive strength (25.7 MPa) than that of Al coating without plasma assistance. The anticorrosive property of the coatings was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, neutral salt spray and potentiodynamic polarization curve tests. The corrosion current density of the passivated Al coated NdFeB specimens is 0.2205 μA·cm− 2, which is two orders of magnitude lower than that of bare NdFeB substrates. Also, the NSS and EIS tests confirm the excellent anticorrosive properties of the Al coated NdFeB specimens with plasma assisted physical vapor deposition method.