Effects of Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Ni-P-CNT Composite Coating

Ni-P-CNT nanocomposite coating was successfully co-deposited by electroless plating and the heat treatment was carried out at 200°C, 400°C, 600°C in nitrogen atmosphere respectively for a holding period of 1 h. The effects of heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-P-CNT composite coating were investigated. The results indicate that the heat treatment at 400°C can greatly improve the hardness and wear resistance of the composite coating. The reason is that Ni3P hard phase is greatly precipitated after the heat treatment, which played a strengthening effect. On the other hand, the precipitated Ni, Ni3P crystalline phases in the coating result in an increase of the amount of grain boundary. The increased amount of grain boundary broke the spread of shear force during friction process, and reduced the wear loss caused by friction pair. Compared with as-deposited coating, the coatings after heat treatment possess higher microhardness and wear resistance.