Ultrasonic irradiation assisted electroless Ni–P coating on magnesium alloy

Abstract

Ultrasonic irradiation (UI) is applied to assist the electroless plating (EP) Ni–P coating on a magnesium alloy substrate. The results show that under UI, the Ni–P coating becomes smooth, compact, has refined grains and is free of cracks and pores, leading to significant improvement in the coating corrosion resistance. The crystallinity of the coating is also improved by UI, transforming from amorphous state to mixture of amorphous and nanocrystalline one.

Keywords:

• Coatings
• Magnesium alloy
• Electroless plating
• Ultrasonic irradiation
• Corrosion resistance

Acknowledgements

The work is financially supported by the Chinese National Nature Science Foundation (Grant nos. 51172102/E020801 and 21203085) and the promotive research fund for young and middle aged scientists of Shandong Province (doctor fund) (BS2011CL011).