Investigation of the mechanical properties of Ni-B/hBN composite coatings electrodeposited in presence of CTAB as the surfactant

The effect of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration on the galvanostatic electrodeposition of Ni-B matrix nano hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) reinforced composite coatings was investigated. XRD and FE-SEM analyzes were used for crystallographical and morphological investigations, respectively. Vickers indentation, nanoindentation, and nanoscratch experiments were carried out to investigate the micromechanical, nanomechanical and tribological properties, respectively. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques were applied for corrosion characterization. The investigated properties have been improved with the increasing CTAB concentrations up to 900 M. In a general manner, CTAB has a beneficial effect at lower concentrations and can be useful for metal matrix nano ceramic reinforced composite coating electrodeposition in the lower concentration range.