Structural Properties of Zn-Fe Alloy Coatings and Their Corrosion Resistance

Single-layer and multilayer alloy deposits were coated onto a mild steel substrate by a single-bath electroplating process. The developed coating consists of Zn and Fe alloys having different compositions with different layers. The anticorrosion behavior of single-layer and multilayer deposits was evaluated by the potentiodynamic polarization method. The surface morphology of the deposits was studied with a scanning electron microscope. The crystal structure of the deposits was analyzed with the X-ray diffraction technique. The Fe content in the deposit was analyzed by a colorimeter and verified with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The micro-hardness tester with a Vickers indenter was used to evaluate the microhardness of the developed single-layer and multilayer coatings. It was found that the microhardness increased with applied current densities. The Zn-Fe multilayer coatings with 300 layers deposited with square and triangular pulses at the applied current density of 2.0/3.0 A dm⁻² were five and four times more corrosion-resistant, respectively, than the single-layer coating of the same thickness. The development of Zn-Fe coatings that are resistant to corrosion is particularly important for the automotive industry and steel-based vehicle parts.