The present work attempts to study the issues associated with heat treatment of electroless Ni–P–Cu coatings particularly with respect to oxidation and observe their impact on the hardness (micro- and nano-indentation), friction, and wear behavior of the coatings. Electroless Ni–P–Cu coating is deposited on low carbon steel substrates and subjected to heat treatment at temperatures ranging between 400°C and 800°C and for durations of 1 h and 4 h. Additionally, scratch tests are conducted on the coatings to evaluate their abrasion resistance as well as observe the influence of heat treatment conditions on the adhesion of the coatings. The changes in the microstructure of the coatings are suitably captured with various characterization tools, namely, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. It is seen that above a heat treatment temperature of 450°C, oxidation of the coating is prominent. Moreover, diffusion of iron from the substrate leads to the formation of intermetallic compounds. The coating performs well when heat-treated around 400°C–450°C. Above 600°C, the performance of the coating degrades with unnecessary oxide formation and other associated phenomena, namely, grain coarsening, flaking, and so on.
ChenJZouYMatsudaK, et al.
Effect of Cu addition on the microstructure, thermal stability, and corrosion resistance of Ni–P amorphous coating. Mater Lett2017;
191: 214–217.
5.
BalarajuJNRajamKS.Electroless deposition of Ni-Cu-P, Ni-W-P and Ni-W-Cu-P alloys. Surf Coat Technol2005;
195: 154–161.
6.
SahooPRoyS.Tribological behavior of electroless Ni-P, Ni-P-W and Ni-P-Cu coatings: a comparison. Int J Surf Eng Interdiscip Mater Sci2017;
5: 1–15.
7.
TomlinsonWJWilsonGR.The oxidation of electroless Ni-B and Ni-P coatings in air at 800 to 1000°C. J Mater Sci1986;
21: 97–102.
8.
EraslanSÜrgenM.Oxidation behavior of electroless Ni–P, Ni–B and Ni–W–B coatings deposited on steel substrates. Surf Coat Technol2015;
265: 46–52.
9.
CastañoJGAriasSGalvisO.High-temperature oxidation resistance of Ni–P and Ni–B electroless coatings on mild steel after long-term tests. Corros Eng Sci Technol2020;
55: 83–89.
10.
WeissZ.High-temperature oxidation of iron covered by electroless Ni-P coating: a GDOS depth profiling study. Surf Interface Anal1992;
18: 691–694.
11.
TanMFSunWCZhangL, et al. High-temperature oxidation resistance of electroless Ni-P-ZrO2 composite coatings. Mater Sci Forum2011; 686: 569–573.
12.
FarrokhzadMA.High temperature oxidation behaviour of autocatalytic Ni-P-BN(h) coatings. Surf Coat Technol2017;
309: 390–400.
13.
XuYZhengXHuX, et al.
Preparation of the electroless Ni–P and Ni–Cu–P coatings on engine cylinder and their tribological behaviors under bio-oil lubricated conditions. Surf Coat Technol2014;
258: 790–796.
14.
YangSLiuHHanS, et al.
Effects of electroless composite plating Ni–Cu–P on the electrochemical properties of La–Mg–Ni-based hydrogen storage alloy. Appl Surf Sci2013;
271: 210–215.
15.
BiswasADasSKSahooP.Correlating tribological performance with phase transformation behavior for electroless Ni-(high)P coating. Surf Coat Technol2017;
328: 102–114.
16.
KuvaJSiitari-KauppiMLindbergA, et al.
Microstructure, porosity and mineralogy around fractures in Olkiluoto bedrock. Eng Geol2012;
139–140: 28–37.
17.
ChenCJLinKL.The deposition and crystallization behaviors of electroless Ni‐Cu‐P deposits. J Electrochem Soc1999;
146: 137–140.
18.
DuariSMukhopadhyayABarmanTK, et al.
Investigation of friction and wear properties of electroless Ni–P–Cu coating under dry condition. J Mol Eng Mater2016;
04: 1640013.
19.
BalarajuJNKalavatiRajamKS.Surface morphology and structure of electroless ternary NiWP deposits with various W and P contents. J Alloys Compds2009;
486: 468–473.
20.
MukhopadhyayABarmanTKSahooP.Wear and friction characteristics of electroless Ni-BW coatings at different operating temperatures. Mater Res Exp2018;
5: 026526.
21.
Salicio-PazAGrandeHPellicerE, et al.
Monolayered versus multilayered electroless NiP coatings: impact of the plating approach on the microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of the coatings. Surf Coat Technol2019;
368: 138–146.
22.
YuH-SLuoS-FWangY-R.A comparative study on the crystallization behavior of electroless Ni-P and Ni-Cu-P deposits. Surf Coat Technol2001;
148: 143–148.
23.
BiswasADasSKSahooP. Effect of copper incorporation on phase transformation behavior of electroless nickel–phosphorous coating and its effect on the tribological behavior. Proc IMechE, Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications. Epub ahead of print 20 December 2020. DOI: 10.1177/1464420720981602.
24.
KeongKGShaWMalinovS.Crystallisation kinetics and phase transformation behaviour of electroless nickel–phosphorus deposits with high phosphorus content. J Alloys Compds2002;
334: 192–199.
25.
BiswasADasSKSahooP.Investigation of the tribological behavior of electroless Ni-WP coating pre and post phase transformation regime. Mater Res Exp2019;
6: 0965c1.
26.
PalaniappaMSeshadriSK.Structural and phase transformation behaviour of electroless Ni–P and Ni–W–P deposits. Mater Sci Eng A2007;
460–461: 638–644.
27.
MarenychOKostryzhevA.Strengthening mechanisms in nickel-copper alloys: a review. Metals2020;
10: 1358.
28.
HuYYangLShiC, et al.
Microstructural evolution and phase transformation kinetics of pulse-electroplated Ni–Cu–P alloy film during annealing. Mater Chem Phys2013;
141: 944–950.
29.
ZhaoYZhangJ.Microstrain and grain-size analysis from diffraction peak width and graphical derivation of high-pressure thermomechanics. J Appl Crystallograph2008;
41: 1095–1108.
30.
ShaWWuXSarililahW.Scanning electron microscopy study of microstructural evolution of electroless nickel–phosphorus deposits with heat treatment. Mater Sci Eng B2010;
168: 95–99.
31.
ZhaoGZouYHaoY, et al.
Corrosion resistance of electroless Ni-P/Cu/Ni-P multilayer coatings. Archiv Metall Mater2015;
60: 1003–1008.
32.
BayesDM. The physical properties of electroless nickel coatings. In Proceedings EN 95 conference. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 1995.
33.
KumarPSNairPK.Studies on crystallization of electroless Ni-P deposits. J Mater Process Technol1996;
56: 511–520.
34.
SinhaAFarhatZ.Effect of surface porosity on tribological properties of sintered pure Al and Al 6061. Mater Sci Appl2015;
6: 549–566.
35.
KimHSBushMB.The effects of grain size and porosity on the elastic modulus of nanocrystalline materials. Nanostruct Mater1999;
11: 361–367.
36.
NiWChengY-TLukitschMJ, et al.
Effects of the ratio of hardness to Young’s modulus on the friction and wear behavior of bilayer coatings. Appl Phys Lett2004;
85: 4028–4030.
37.
MooreAJWTegartWJM.Relation between friction and hardness. Proc R Soc Lond Ser A Math Phys Sci1952;
212: 7.
38.
MerzRBrodyanskiAKopnarskiM.On the role of oxidation in tribological contacts under environmental conditions. Conf Pap Sci2015;
2015: 515498.
39.
PalaniappaMSeshadriS.Friction and wear behavior of electroless Ni–P and Ni–W–P alloy coatings. Wear2008;
265: 735–740.
40.
LarssonMOlssonMHedenqvistP, et al.
Mechanisms of coating failure as demonstrated by scratch and indentation testing of TiN coated HSS. Surf Eng2000;
16: 436–444.
41.
LiuZGaoWEI.Scratch adhesion evaluation of electroless nickel plating on Mg and Mg alloys. Int J Modern Phys B2006;
20: 4637–4642.
