Synthesis, characterization and optimization of nanostructured Fe-Ni coatings by electrodeposition method

In this paper, nanostructured Fe-Ni coatings were successfully coated onto steel substrates by electrodeposition method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were all employed to characterize nanostructured coatings. Our results showed that with increasing the Ni content in various coatings more homogeneous structures were obtained. Coatings with a higher Fe content had brilliant surfaces and tightly bonded to the substrates. Furthermore, utilizing argon gas during the coating procedure reduced the amount of cavities on the surface of coatings. The coatings had different morphologies depending on the current density and Ni content of the solutions. With optimizing the coating procedure parameters, a coating with star-like morphology and crystallite size of about 16 nm was obtained.