Role of surfactants on particle deposition, wear, and corrosion behavior of TaC particle incorporated electroless nickel-phosphorus coating

The coatings prepared by incorporating submicron-sized TaC particles while depositing Ni and P atoms on the steel substrate via electroless method showed mixed results of surface finishing, microstructural properties, mechanical, tribological, and corrosion behavior with the addition of various surfactants during the coating process. The surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) enhanced the microhardness when added during the coating process of Ni–P–TaC composite, whereas the cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) lowered the microhardness as compared to the surfactant-free coating. Moreover, the TaC particle incorporation was hindered by the surfactants CTAB and Triton X-100. An excellent wear resistance behavior has been observed in the surfactant-free Ni–P–TaC coating in comparison to particle-free Ni–P coating. The Ni–P–TaC coatings showed the dependency of wear behavior on the material properties of the counter sliding surface although this dependency has not been observed in Ni–P coatings. The wear damage in Ni–P coating is immense irrespective of the properties of counter-sliding materials. Various surfactant-used Ni–P–TaC coating surfaces deteriorated much more due to corrosion than surfactant-free Ni–P–TaC coating. Among the various surfactants, the CTAB used Ni–P–TaC coating showed weak corrosion resistance.