Corrosion Resistance of Zn and Zn-Ni Electrodeposits: Morphological Characterization and Phases Identification

Zinc alloys coatings formed with elements of group VIIIB are promising because they display similar properties and protect steel by galvanic action. The Zn-Ni alloy is remarkable by showing improved mechanical properties and better corrosion resistance when compared to zinc coatings of similar thickness, also can be applied at higher temperatures. In this work, electrodeposits of Zn, Zn-12%Ni, obtained upon SAE 1010 steel from commercial alkali baths, were treated by blue chromatization and characterized according to mechanical properties and morphology. Studies were carried out by using measures of hardness, roughness, SEM, EDS and XRD. Among the studied electrodeposits, alloys treated by chromatization showed higher corrosion resistance and Zn-Ni electrodeposits showed higher value of roughness and hardness, while zinc coating had results similar to the steel substrate By means of XRD, it was found that electrodeposits are crystalline, being identified in Zn-Ni alloy the presence of the phases g(Ni5Zn21) and d(Ni3Zn22), which are responsible for its higher corrosion resistance.