Electroless Ni-P/diamond /graphene composite coatings and characterization of their wear and corrosion resistance in sodium chloride solution

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of the electroless Ni-P/diamond/graphene composite coating on the structure and surface hardness of 2024-T6 aluminum alloy as well as their effect on the corrosion and wear resistance of the alloy in 3.5 % NaCl solution. The electroless Ni-P plating solution was prepared by adding different size diamond (6-12 μm and 0.2 μm) and nano-graphene into the electroless Ni-P plating solution to obtain Ni-P/diamond, Ni-P/graphene and Ni-P/daimond/graphene composite coatings for comparison. Experimental results indicated that the Ni-P/diamond, Ni-P/graphene and Ni-P/daimond/graphene composite coatings can be successfully electroless deposited on anodized 2024-T6 aluminum alloy. The anodically oxidized films, that formed on the aluminum alloy using phosphoric acid as the electrolyte, was porous with high density of pores, and thus could enhance the adhesion of the composite coatings. The Ni-P/daimond/graphene hybrid coating had a higher hardness as well as better corrosion and wear resistance of 2024-T6 alloy in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution as compared with other composite coatings. When the combination of nano-graphene and smaller diamond particles added this beneficial effect was significantly raised, especially the composite coating was further vacuum annealed at 400°C for 24 h to obtain a more smooth and defect-free coating structure.