Fabrication of robust tungsten carbide particles reinforced Co Ni super-hydrophobic composite coating by electrochemical deposition

Nowadays, the practical application of the super-hydrophobic surfaces is limited by their mechanical durability. In this work, robust super-hydrophobic cobalt-nickel coatings reinforced by micro-nano tungsten carbide (WC) particles were achieved on carbon steel substrate by electrochemical deposition from the mixed solution. The effect of WC particles content on the surface morphology, wetting properties and the corrosion protection performance of the composite coatings were investigated. The linear abrasion test indicated that the as-prepared super-hydrophobic CoNi/WC composite coating with 9.8 wt% WC content, displayed excellent wear resistance with super-hydrophobic property for abrasion distance up to 34 m. Furthermore, the super-hydrophobic CoNi/WC coating with robust mechanical durability can be a promising alternative technique for corrosion protection.