Cu–Sn–Zn nanocomposite coatings prepared by TiO2 sol-enhanced electrodeposition

Cu–Sn–Zn (CSZ) coatings are widely applied in communication devices due to their excellent performance in electrical/thermal conductivity, solderability, and corrosion resistance. Particularly, a novel TiO2–sol-enhanced electrodeposition method has been proposed to prepare CSZ–TiO2 nanocomposite coatings with different volume fractions of TiO2–sol. A series of CSZ–TiO2 nanocomposite coatings were prepared in the current study. The crystal phase, surface morphology, and micro- to nanostructures of sol-enhanced nanocomposite coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Based on the prior research, we studied the microhardness, surface friction behavior, and corrosion behavior of the coatings. Our results indicate that adding 12.5 mL L−1 TiO2–sol increased the average microhardness of CSZ coating from 325 to 421 HV and reduced the corrosion rate by 42.8%. Those results reveal that the TiO2–sol affected the performance of CSZ coatings depends on the volume added. Additionally, we investigated the effects of TiO2–sol volume fraction on the morphology, microhardness, dry sliding wear-resistant capability, and corrosion-resistant capability.