The Study of Corrosion and Wear Resistance of Copper Composite Coatings with Inclusions of Carbon Nanomaterials in the Copper Metal Matrix

Abstract

This paper deals with the peculiarities of the behaviour of copper nanocomposite coatings with CNMs inclusions under the free corrosion conditions in the acidic medium. The parameters of corrosion current density (jcorr), anodic dissolution current density (ia) and polarization resistance (Rp) have been determined. In the acidic medium a stronger oxidation of nanostructured copper nanocomposites occurred. With longer immersion periods more corrosion products are formed, resulting in a increase in the polarization resistance (Rp) of corrosion. Corrosion products cover the whole surface of the coatings and the corrosion rate (jcorr) tends towards a steady value of 1.7×10-3 ¸ 2.1×10-3 A·cm-2 for all copper coatings studied: 1.7×10-3 A·cm-2 for both Cu and Cu-CNM1, 1.9×10-3 A·cm-2 - for Cu-CNM2 and 2.1×10-3 A·cm-2 - for Cu-CNM3 composite coatings. It has been established that nanocomposites possess a higher wear resistance as compared to that of pure copper. The damage of metal characterized as a depth scar (đ) is lower. The roughness of the composites studied was found to be the essential factor affecting their wear resistance. Therefore, the wear resistance of nanocomposites is impaired when they are deposited on a hard steel substrate.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.17.2.481

Keywords

• copper
• carbon nanoderivatives
• nanocomposites
• corrosion
• wear