Preparation and tribological behavior of electrodeposited Ni–W–GO composite coatings

Ni–W–GO composite coatings were successfully plated on 45# steel substrate by co-electrodeposition technique in a Ni–W electrolyte solution, with different contents of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles in suspension. The structure, phase composition and surface morphology of as-plated composite coatings were characterized by Raman, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached with energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The hardness and tribological behavior of the present coatings were also evaluated by Vickers Hardness tester and high-speed reciprocating friction and wear tester, and the wear mechanism was discussed as well. The results show that layer-structured GO nanoparticles significantly affect the microstructure and grain size of the Ni–W–GO composite coatings. Meanwhile, GO nanoparticles embedded in Ni–W–GO coatings can obviously improve the hardness and wear resistance in comparison with the corresponding Ni–W coatings. The highest microhardness and wear resistance of Ni–W–GO composite coatings are obtained with 0.15 g·L⁻¹ GO employing.