Effect of Coating Bath Parameters on Properties of Electroless Nickel-Boron Alloy Coatings

Abstract

Electroless nickel-boron binary coatings were obtained with various bath compositions to investigate the effect of bath parameters on tribological and mechanical behaviours of the coating. Characterisation of the coating for surface morphology and phase structure is done using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), respectively, whereas tribological behaviour of coatings is evaluated on a pin-on-disc tribo-tester. Elastic modulus and surface hardness of coatings have been obtained using nano-indentation technique, while the scratch behaviour of the coatings has been determined using micro-scratch test. Corrosion resistance of coatings is also determined. It is observed that surface roughness of the coatings increased with increase in sodium borohydride concentration but decreased slightly with increase in nickel chloride concentration. Friction and wear characteristics are found to increase with surface roughness which occurs due to increased boron content. Surface hardness and scratch hardness are also seen to vary with coating bath parameters.