Electrochemical evaluation of corrosion and tribocorrosion behaviour of amorphous and nanocrystalline cobalt–tungsten electrodeposited coatings

Amorphous and nanocrystalline Co–W coatings were electrodeposited on copper substrates from a citrate–ammonia bath. The coatings showed nodular surface morphologies, but a microcrack network was detected in the amorphous coating. However, a better corrosion resistance was achieved for the amorphous coating. During sliding under open circuit potential (OCP) condition, the potential of amorphous coating gradually became more active probably due to the widening of wear scar, and thus expansion of active area. The amorphous coatings showed a higher volume loss at OCP probably due to its lower microhardness. In anodic sliding, a sharp increase in current density was observed due to mass transport and depassivation effects. In all sliding conditions, the proportion of mass transport was higher than wear accelerated corrosion, which implied that the dissolution reaction of the coatings was mainly a mass-transport controlled process. The results also showed that the effect of sliding on degradation is more intense for the nanocrystalline coating. For both coatings, the formation of the superficial microcracks in the vicinity of wear scars indicating on a surface fatigue wear mechanism. - Highlights: • Mass-transport effect had higher proportion in tribocorrosion of Co–W coatings. • The major electrochemical-wear degradation was for the nanocrystalline coating. • The higher proportion of wear accelerated corrosion was for the amorphous coating. • Superficial microcracks were formed near scars due to the coatings brittleness