Composite plating of Ni/SiC using azo-cationic surfactants and wear resistance of coatings

Influence of the hydrophobic tail length of a cationic surfactant containing an azobenzene group (AZTAB) on the extent of co-deposition of SiC particles with nickel was studied. The present investigation shows that an AZTAB with shorter tail can co-deposit a higher amount of SiC particles than the surfactant with a longer tail. The anti-wear property of the coatings with different volume percentage of SiC was studied under dry sliding condition in the ball-on-disk configuration of a tribo-tester, and the degree of anti-wear performance of the coatings was evaluated on the basis of their wear scar depth and the wear area. The wear resistance of the Ni/SiC composite coatings was found to be increased with increasing the content of co-deposited SiC particles up to about 52 vol.%. The anti-wear performance of the coating containing 71.5 vol.% of SiC particles was poorer than that of the nickel coating without any incorporated particles.