Effect of WO₃ nanoparticle loading on the microstructural, mechanical and corrosion resistance of Zn matrix/TiO₂-WO₃ nanocomposite coatings for marine application

Abstract

In this study, for marine application purposes, we evaluated the effect of process parameter and particle loading on the microstructure, mechanical reinforcement and corrosion resistance properties of a Zn-TiO₂-WO₃ nanocomposite produced via electrodeposition. We characterized the morphological properties of the composite coatings with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). We carried out mechanical examination using a Dura Scan hardness tester and a CERT UMT-2 multi-functional tribological tester. We evaluated the corrosion properties by linear polarization in 3.5% NaCl. The results show that the coatings exhibited good stability and the quantitative particle loading greatly enhanced the structural and morphological properties, hardness behavior and corrosion resistance of the coatings. We observed the precipitation of this alloy on steel is greatly influenced by the composite characteristics.

Keywords

Zn-TiO₂-WO₃ / Nanocomposite / Nanoceramics / coatings matrix and precipitation