Structural and electrochemical characterization of Ni nanostructure films on steels with brush plating and sputter deposition

Layers of nickel were coated on low carbon steel substrates applying both brush plating and DC magnetron sputtering techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis showed a preferential orientation along (1 1 1) for both sputter deposited and brush plated Ni nanostructure coatings. The sputtered Ni film showed better crystallinity as observed from XRD compared to brush plated Ni film on steel on account of the favorable conditions for grain growth in sputtering. SEM analysis indicated that the coatings are very regular without pores, with columnar structure for the sputter deposited Ni coatings. AFM was also applied for surface topography examination. Microhardness value was found to be higher for sputtered Ni film. Corrosion performance of these nanostructured Ni coatings were evaluated using electrochemical techniques and observed that the corrosion resistance of brush plated Ni film sample was significantly higher than that of the sputtered Ni film.