Corrosion Science 198 (2022) 110138 Available online 2 February 2022 0010-938X/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Effect of chromium on erosion-corrosion properties of ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 particles reinforced Fe-based composites in artifcial seawater slurries Cong Li a, b , Ronn Goei b , Yefei Li a, * , Jing Shi c , Fei Liu d , Bo Li a, * , Yimin Gao a , Yuehui Li a , Shuzhou Li b , Alfred Iing Yoong Tok b, * a State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China b School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore c School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China d College of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, China A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: ZTA P /Fe composites Cr coating Interfacial layer Erosion-corrosion resistance Artifcial seawater ABSTRACT The infuence of Cr on the interfacial bonding and erosion-corrosion resistance of ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 particles reinforced high chromium white cast irons based (ZTA P /Fe) composites were systematically investigated. The Cr coatings on the surface of ZTA particle (ZTA P ) ceramics were fabricated by multi-arc ion plating. The results indicated that a uniform and continuous Cr coating was tightly adhered with ZTA ceramic substrate. The thickness and grain size of the Cr coating could be effectively controlled by regulating the deposition parameters. The grain size of Cr coating increased with deposition time. The ZTA P /Fe composites assisted without (N1) and with (N2) Cr coating were prepared via infltration casting. The addition of Cr coating obtained a smooth and tight interface, attributed to the improvement of the wettability between ZTA ceramic and high chromium white cast irons matrix (Cr15). Moreover, the erosion-corrosion resistance property of the Cr coated ZTA P /Fe composites (N2) improved up to 44% compared with bare-ZTA P /Fe composites (N1) due to their interfacial enhancement action. Meanwhile, the interfacial layer of the N2 composites had a low roughness after erosion-corrosion. 1. Introduction Currently, erosion-corrosion resistance materials are widely used in various engineering components of industrial felds, such as mining, pump impeller, dredge pumps, railway, and hydraulic transport [1–8]. High chromium white cast iron is a promising erosion-resistant material due to its high compressive strength, hardness, and the precipitation of the various carbides weaken the cutting effect of solid abrasives [9–12]. However, high chromium white cast irons are insuffcient to satisfy the demands under the harsh engineering conditions (abrasive wear, erosion, corrosion, and high impact) as developing blue energy [13,14]. The ceramic particles reinforced Fe-based composites have been regar- ded as promising wear resistance materials, caused by their excellent mechanical properties [15–17]. Generally, the ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 (ZTA) ceramic is an ideal reinforcement phase because of its high hardness, wear resistance, fracture toughness, and excellent thermal stability. Meanwhile, the ZTA ceramic particles can hinder abrasives cutting and protect the matrix around the particles [18]. However, poor wettability between the ZTA and Fe matrix may cause the peeling off of ZTA ceramic particles during the abrasive wear under high impacting force [19]. The interfacial bonding status of composites directly affects the mechanical and wear resistance properties [20,21]. It is urgent to enhance the wettability between ZTA ceramic and Fe matrix using surface modifcation. Some researchers reported that Ni could be used as the active element to improve wettability between ZTA and Fe matrix, which showed excellent interfacial bonding due to the formation of nickel aluminate spinel [22]. Fan et al. [23] prepared Ni- wrapped ZTA/Fe composites by electroless plating and powder metallurgy. Nickel coating on ceramic surface improved the interfacial bonding of ZTA P /Fe com- posites by atoms diffusion. Zheng et al. [24] reported that the wear resistance of Ni-coated ZTA P /Cr25 composites increased to 6 folds that of the Cr25 matrix. Unfortunately, the fast-plating speed and instability plating solution might lead to drawbacks such as large grain size and non-uniform distribution on the ceramics surface [25]. In addition, a large number of P elements occurred with the Ni coating, which might affect the mechanical property of the following composites [26,27]. The multi-arc ion plating has some advantages over electroless plating, * Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses: liyefei@xjtu.edu.cn (Y. Li), libo616@xjtu.edu.cn (B. Li), miytok@ntu.edu.sg (A.I.Y. Tok). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Corrosion Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/corsci https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2022.110138 Received 30 August 2021; Received in revised form 28 December 2021; Accepted 27 January 2022