Corrosion behavior of electroless Ni-P/TiO2 nanocomposite coatings

Composite Ni–P/nano‐TiO2 coatings were prepared by simultaneous electroless deposition of Ni–P and nano‐TiO2 on a low carbon steel substrate. The deposition was carried out from stirred solutions containing suspended nano‐TiO2 particles. The Ni–P and Ni–P/nano‐TiO2 coatings before and after heat treatment were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. The micro‐structural morphologies of the coatings significantly varied with the nano‐TiO2 content. The corrosion resistance of as‐plated and heat‐treated Ni–P and Ni–P/nano‐TiO2 coatings was investigated by anodic polarization, Tafel plots and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) studies in 3.5% NaCl solution. Ni–P/nano‐TiO2 coating exhibited superior corrosion resistance over Ni–P coating. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.