Effect of composite particulate reinforcement on the morphology, anti- corrosion and hardness properties of fabricated Zn-ZnO coatings

Co-deposition of zinc metal matrix with ZnO composite was fabricated from electrolytic chloride based coating consisting of 20-40g/L ZnO particle. The resulting composite coatings were characterized using high optic microscope (OPM). The corrosion resistance properties of Zn-ZnO composite coatings were measure using linear polarization in 3.5% NaCl solution. The variation of amount of ZnO %wt. inclusion of the composite on micro-hardness was investigated using dura scan diamond base micro-hardness tester. The results obtained indicate that the introduction of ZnO particles in the deposition bath obviously increase significantly the hardness properties. The increases in hardness value are attributed to the realization of coherent and even precipitate into the metal lattice. The corrosion polarization resistance also improved slightly as against the MS. It was found that addition of ZnO %wt support strengthening characteristics toward hardness improvement with slight enhancement in anti-corrosion properties.