Study the effect of adding zirconia particles to nickel–phosphorus electroless coatings as product innovation on stainless steel substrate

Abstract Scholars have spent much time studying metal deposition procedures involving the deposition of electroless nickel, alloy, and composite coatings on various surfaces; the most current uses were feasible advantages of the coatings’ many good properties for achieving the final product innovation. Lately, these coatings have demonstrated intriguing wear and corrosion resistance features, resulting in several innovative macro-level developments. The notion of composite coating by co-deposition coating has been presented in this article. The characteristics of Ni–Pb alloy coatings were examined by inserting ZrO 2 {{\rm{ZrO}}}_{2} particles into the electroless deposited solution. The stainless steel (SS) specimens have been electroless coated with Ni–Pb and ZrO 2 {{\rm{ZrO}}}_{2} nanoparticles (size = 30–70 nm) at 0, 10, and 20 g/L amounts. The materials have been examined using scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope, followed by wear-resistant and microhardness testing. According to the investigation findings, including inert particles improved the hardness magnitude and wearing resistance considerably. The base metal exhibited the highest wear rate at 10 N, while the wear rate decreased in the Ni–Pb– ZrO 2 {{\rm{ZrO}}}_{2} -coated SS316L by 34%. The Vickers hardness magnitudes of the Ni–Pb– ZrO 2 {{\rm{ZrO}}}_{2} -coated samples at different ZrO 2 {{\rm{ZrO}}}_{2} contents (0, 10, and 20 g/L) were 19, 50, and 81%, respectively.