Synthesis of functionally graded nano Al2O3–Ni composite coating by pulse electrodeposition

The main goal of this research is the synthesis of functionally graded nickel–nano Al2O3 composite coatings by using pulse deposition in which the amount of the embedded nano alumina particles changes in the cross section of the composite. For producing functionally graded nanocomposite coatings by pulse electrodeposition under ultrasonic agitation, frequency and duty cycle changes can be applied and in this research, the influence of both parameters has been studied. Microstructure of these coatings investigated by SEM, EBSD and XRD methods. By changing the duty cycle from 90% to 10% at different frequency, the microstructure of the coatings did not change significantly. These coatings showed ductile structure with {0 0 1} texture at primary layers and small randomly oriented grains at final layers. The most important factor affecting the microstructure of the nickel matrix was the average current density and incorporation of nano alumina particles does not have significant effect on the microstructure. The optimum condition for production of functionally graded nano Al2O3–Ni coating was changing of the duty cycle from 90% to 10% at fixed frequency of 10 Hz.