Adherence of electrodeposited Zn-Ni coatings on EN AW2024 T3 aluminium alloy

Abstract

The use of hexavalent chromium in surface treatments will be reduced in the future, as it is suspected to be carcinogenic. Electrodeposition of Zn-Ni, which is currently used on steel, represents a non-chromate alternative surface treatment for the corrosion protection of aluminium alloys. Zn-Ni coatings were electrodeposited onto an EN AW2024 T3 aluminium alloy sheet in a laboratory flow cell. To obtain several percentages of Ni in the coatings, solutions with different Ni2+ concentrations were used. The influence of a specific pretreatment to promote adherence, such as zincate immersion (109 g L-1 ZnO, 525 g L-1 NaOH) or phosphoric anodisation (36 wt-%H3PO4, 20°C) prior to electrodeposition was also investigated. The smoothness of the coating, measured on a three-dimensional roughness tester, increased when the percentage of Ni increased. This can be explained by a microstructural refinement observed using SEM and AFM. These microstructural changes are due to the evolution of the crystal structure of the coatings and can be observed by X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the coatings (hardness and Young's modulus) were measured by microindentation and nanoindentation. The adherence of the coatings was tested by a scratch test and a three point bending test dedicated to coatings. The scratch behaviour of the coatings was a function of the percentage of Ni. The scratches observed indicate a ductile fracture for coatings with a low percentage of Ni and a brittle fracture for a high percentage of Ni. Bending tests demonstrated the favourable effect of pretreatments such as zincate immersion or phosphoric anodisation as well as adhesion enhancement as a function of increasing percentage of Ni.