Corrosion and Wear Study of Ni–W–B/WC Composite Coatings Electroplated by Pulse Plating

Herein, the effect of WC content (ranging from 0 to 12 g L −1 in the bath) is studied on the corrosion and wear properties of the Ni–W–B/WC pulse‐plated composite coatings. Results display that at the first step, increasing WC concentrations in the bath (up to 4 g L −1 ) increases WC content in the coating. However, further addition of WC particles decreases WC content in the coating because of the agglomeration of nanoparticles. Furthermore, the corrosion and wear resistance of the deposits improve considerably with raising the WC amount in the deposits. In other words, the coating electroplated at 4 g L −1 of nanoparticles in the bath displays the best electrochemical and wear behaviors. The uniform distribution of reinforced particles in the deposit is the main reason for achieving superior properties. A maximum corrosion resistance of about 65.8 kΩ cm 2 is attained in the coating with 4 g L −1 WC in the bath. In addition, this coating displayed minimum values of wear weight loss (0.288 mg cm −2 ) and the friction coefficient (0.348). Higher WC contents in the bath negatively affect the properties of the coatings because of the existence of agglomerated particles and decreasing nanoparticle amounts in the coatings.