Anticorrosion properties and thin ﬁlm composite deposition of Zn- SiC-Cr 3 C 2 coating on mild steel A.A. Ayoola a , O.S.I. Fayomi b, c, * , A.P.I. Popoola b a Chemical Engineering Department, Covenant University, P.M.B 1023, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria b Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, Tshwane University of Technology, P.M.B. X680, Pretoria, South Africa c Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, P.M.B 1023, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria article info Article history: Received 13 March 2018 Received in revised form 12 April 2018 Accepted 20 April 2018 Available online xxx Keywords: Zn-SiC-Cr 3 C 2 Electrodeposition Coatings Corrosion resistance Hardness abstract This work considered the inﬂuence of Cr 3 C 2 particle loading on microstructure and mechanical prop- erties of Zn-SiC-Cr 3 C 2 nanocomposite produced via electrocodeposition are investigated. The surface nature of the nanocomposite coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with the energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Abrasive wear behaviour and hardness property of Zn-SiC-Cr 3 C 2 nanocomposite produced were investigated using CERT UMT-2 multi-functional tribo- logical tester and Dura Scan hardness tester. The corrosion property was evaluated through linear po- larization approach. The result showed that the coatings exhibited good stability and Cr 3 C 2 nanocomposite loading signiﬁcantly improved the microstructural performance, hardness property, wear resistance as well as corrosion resistance of the coatings. © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction Studies on nanocomposite coatings production through the electrolytic co-deposition with metal from plating baths has been carried out extensively [1e3]. Varied distinctive properties of nanocomposite materials include self-lubricity, ability to resist high temperature oxidation, high corrosion and wear resistance [2]. In general, the choice of electrodeposition coating (as a good method of producing nano- composite) is based on the low temperature of operation, good thickness ratio, excellent bonding characteristics, high rate of deposition and low operating cost. Investigations show that excellent composite coatings can be obtained from the co- deposition of composite and ceramics materials (such as ZnO and Cr 3 C 2 particulates) with some metals or metallic alloys [4e7]. And these coating materials affect the corrosion behaviour, physical and mechanical properties of the coated materials [8,9]. Composite materials and alloys (e.g. Zn-SiC, Ni-Cr and Ni-SiC) are synthesized for surface treatment of certain materials due to their excellent interfacial properties and environmental friendliness [7e10]. Improved corrosion resistance and hardness behaviour were experienced when pure zinc was coated with zinc coatings of SiC incorporated [10]. Several studies on the use of Cr 3 C 2 particulate in surface engineering have been carried out by researchers in the past; however the use of the nanosized Cr 3 C 2 as composite rein- forcement has not been adequately investigated. Hence, this study will consider the preparation of SiC-Cr 3 C 2 nanoparticles in Zn matrix, the electrodeposition of the coating materials through a simple bath, the inﬂuence of Cr 3 C 2 particulates loading on the corrosion behaviour, structural modiﬁcation and mechanical properties of Zn Matrix/SiC-Cr 3 C 2 nanocomposite coating. 2. Methodology 2.1. Electrodeposition The electrodeposition of Zn-SiC-Cr 3 C 2 nanocomposites was achieved using an electroplating cell having two zinc electrodes, as described by Refs. [6] and [10](Fig. 1). The mild steel cathode is of the dimension 45  45  25 mm. And zinc sheet anode has 90  50  10 mm dimension. The elemental analysis of the mild * Corresponding author. Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, Tshwane Universityof Technology, P.M.B. X680, Pretoria, South Africa. E-mail addresses: ayodeji.ayoola@covenantuniversity.edu.ng (A.A. Ayoola), ojosundayfayomi3@gmail.com, ojo.fayomi@covenantuniversity.edu.ng (O.S.I. Fayomi). Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Defence Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dt https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2018.04.008 2214-9147/© 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Defence Technology xxx (2018) 1e5 Please cite this article in press as: Ayoola AA, et al., Anticorrosion properties and thin ﬁlm composite deposition of Zn-SiC-Cr 3 C 2 coating on mild steel, Defence Technology (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2018.04.008