Effect of Incorporating a Biodegradable Ecofriendly Additive in Pursuit of Improved Anti-Corrosion, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Zn-based TiO2/TiB2 Coating by DAECD Technique

The incorporation of composite and eco-friendly particles or fluids to develop new engineering materials has recently changed the coating world.In this study, a Zn-TiO2-TiB2 ternary alloy was produced from a sulphate bath on a mild steel substrate.Solanum tuberosum (ST) was later introduced to the bath to evaluate the effect of the organic additive on the ternary alloy.The study was conducted under constant plating time and current density.The fabricated matrix was systematically investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) for structural properties.The micro hardness and anti-corrosion properties of the deposits were studied using, respectively, a diamond base micro hardness tester and potentiodynamic polarization method.The anti-wear properties and thermal stability of the electrodeposited alloy were studied using a MTR-300 abrasive tester and an isothermal furnace at 250 ºC.From the observed result, the coatings presented good stability, especially for Zn-TiO2-TiB2-ST, as compared to the Zn-TiO2-TiB2 coating.The addition of ST improved the hardness properties of the matrix from 182.4 to197.2HV, and the corrosion rate from 0.9805 to 0.7711 mm/yr.This work established that codeposition of mild steel with TiO2/TiB2/ST is promising in anti-wear and corrosion resistance properties.