Development of nano crystalline nickel coating for engineering applications

The current research focuses on developing nano-crystalline nickel coating for engineering applications through pulse plating technique. Based on the literature survey, the current density, duty cycle and frequency were identified as important grain refining parameters. Coating was done over a mild steel sample after mechanical polishing, vapour degreasing and anodizing. Experiments were conducted using the three determining parameters and their influence on the properties of the coating was evaluated. Coatings were then characterized for the surface morphology and hardness. The XRD analysis for the surface morphology resulted in the grain size of 19 nm and the hardness measured from the microhardness tester was 677 HV which is higher than the hardness reported in the available literatures. The influence of the pulse plating parameters on the grain size and hardness of the coating has been listed out for the benefit of the scientific community.