Electrodeposition and Characterization of Zinc-Cobalt Alloy Coatings

Abstract

Electrodeposited alloys are important in industry due to their properties which are superior to those of single metal layer. Zinc-cobalt alloys were co-deposited on gold substrate. Composition of the layers was established using SEM-EDX techniques. The influence of working parameters against stoichiometric composition of alloys was studied in order to find optimal conditions to achieve a desired final product. Some discussion about reaction mechanism was opened based on EIS diagrams. Application properties important for coating systems used in the automotive industry, such as friction behavior, adhesion, and corrosion behavior, were investigated on coatings with varying cobalt content. The corrosion resistance of the Zn-Co alloy layers was found to be better than the one of pure zinc coatings.