Anti-wear and Hardness Values of Functional Value-Added Zn-ZnO-Rice Husk Ash Composite Coating of Mild Steel

This paper presents the anti-wear and hardness values of electrodeposited Zn-ZnO- XRHA composite coating. Chloride-based bath was employed for the deposition bath. The deposition parameters were 0g, 10g and 20g rice husk ash (RHA) particulate loading, 15 minutes deposition, 1.4A current, 400 rpm stirring rate and 75℃ bath temperature. The composition, morphology, occurred phases, hardness and wear resistance for the RHA, mild steel substrate and developed coatings were studied. Equipment used for analyzing the coatings properties were x-ray fluorescence spectrometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) with attached energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), EMCO Test Dura-scan microhardness tester and CERT UMT-2 tribological tester. Results showed that the Zn-ZnO-20RHA coated substrate had the highest hardness result toping the bare substrate by about 170% increment value. The trend of the wear loss for the developed Zn-ZnO-XRHA descended relative to increased particulate loading.