Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/colsurfa Effect of CTAB concentration in the electrolyte on the tribological properties of nanoparticle SiC reinforced Ni metal matrix composite (MMC) coatings produced by electrodeposition F. Kılıc¸ a , H. Gül b,∗ , S. Aslan a , A. Alp a , H. Akbulut a Sakarya University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Esentepe Campus, 54187, Sakarya, Turkey Duzce University, Gumusova Vocational School, Department of Metallurgy, 81850, Duzce, Turkey h i g h l i g h t s We have aimed to incorporate large amount of SiC into Ni layer with a plating process. A nickel sulphate bath the plating electrolyte contained SiC nanoparticles was used. The effect of CTAB content on physical and mechanical properties has been studied. We have carried out a systematic study to increase the amount of the SiC particles. Subsequently, investigating microstructural and wear properties. a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 13 July 2012 Received in revised form 1 November 2012 Accepted 24 November 2012 Available online 5 December 2012 Keywords: Co-electrodeposition Dispersion strengthening Friction Wear resistance g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t 30 20 10 0 -10 -20 -30 0 100 200 300 400 Volume percentage of SiC (vol. %) b Zeta potential (mV) a Concentration of surfactant (CTAB) (mg/l) 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 100 200 300 400 CTAB concentration (mg/l) a b s t r a c t In this study, a nickel sulfate bath containing SiC nanoparticles (between 100 and 1000 nm) was used to obtain hard and wear-resistant nanoparticle reinforced Ni SiC MMCs on steel surfaces for anti-wear applications, such as dies, tools and working parts. The influence of stirring speed and surfactant concentration on particle distribution, microhardness and wear resistance of nano-composite coatings has been studied. The nickel films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The depositions were controlled to obtain a specific thickness (between 50 and 200 m) and particle volume fraction in the matrix (between 0.02 and 0.12). The hardness of the resulting coatings was also measured and found to be 280–571 Hv, depending on the particle volume in the Ni matrix. The effects of the surfactant on the zeta potential, co-deposition and distribution of SiC particles in the nickel matrix, as well as the tribological properties of composite coatings, were investigated. The tribological behaviors of the electrodeposited SiC nano composite coatings sliding against M50 steel ball (Ø 10 mm) were examined on a CSM Instrument. All friction and wear tests were performed without lubrication at room temperature and in the ambient air (relative humidity 55–65 %). The results showed that the wear resistance of the nano composites was approximately 2–2.2 times higher than unreinforced Ni deposited material. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 264 295 57 62; fax: +90 264 295 56 01. E-mail address: harungul@duzce.edu.tr (H. Gül). 0927-7757/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2012.11.048 Electroplating is a method of co-depositing micron- or nanosized particles of metallic or non-metallic compounds and polymers with a metal or alloy matrix. Composite deposits are 54 F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 used in fields ranging from high-tech industries, such as electronic components and computers, to more traditional industries such as the general mechanics and automobile, paper mill, textiles and food industries. Recently, the main work in this field has focused almost entirely on the production of wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings, self-lubricating systems and dispersion-strengthened coatings [1–3]. Nickel is widely used as a metal matrix. Ni–SiC composites have been commercialized for the protection of friction parts, combustion engines and casting molds. The co-electrodeposition between metal Ni and solid particles have been studied extensively. One interesting phenomenon of this process is that the results are different if the solid particles are different. During co-electrodeposition, solid insoluble materials are suspended in a conventional plating electrolyte and captured in the growing metal film. For nickel matrix electrodeposits in particular, a great variety of particles has been used, such as hard oxides (Al2 O3 , TiO2 , SiO2 ), carbides (SiC, WC), diamond, solid lubricates (PTFE, graphite, MoS2 ), carbon nano-tubes and even liquid-containing microcapsules. In general, the presence of the particles (which are of a different phase) in a co-deposited film enhances a variety of properties: microhardness, yield strength, tensile strength, wear and corrosion resistance, self-lubrication, high temperature inertness and chemical and biological compatibility [1–12]. Metal-based composites have been produced by other techniques, such as high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF), thermal spraying, plasma spraying, hot isostatic pressing, a combination of physical and chemical vapor deposition and electroco-deposition. Because it is a technique conducted at a normal pressure and ambient temperature, electrodeposition is considered to be one of the most important techniques for producing composites [5]. In addition, electrodeposition is a low cost technique, has a high deposition rate and leads to a homogenous distribution of the particles. With the increasing availability of nanoparticles, there is a growing interest in the electrolytic and electroless co-deposition of nanoparticles [9,11–14]. Nickel which possesses high tensile strength and good toughness and corrosion resistance; it is a popular choice as a matrix material because it can disperse both hard and soft reinforcements to improve its wear and anti-friction resistance. Nickel composites are noteworthy as an alternative to hard Cr because their enhanced resistance to wear and high-temperature oxidation. Nickel plating is widely adopted in automobile industries [14,15]. In addition, silicon carbide nickel matrix coatings have been extensively studied and have gained widespread use for the protection against friction inside parts of cylinders in the automotive industry. Considerable research has been focused on the impact of the electrodeposition parameters on the electrolytic co-deposition process of SiC with Ni, as well as on the properties of the composite coatings. There are various electrodeposition parameters: electrolysis conditions (composition of the electrolytic bath, presence of additives and pH value), current conditions (type of imposed current and values of the current density) and properties of the reinforcing particles (size, surface properties, concentration and type of dispersion in the bath). In general, it has been observed that the amount of embedded SiC particles increases with both increasing concentration of suspended SiC particles and increasing concentration of additives’ presence in the electrolyte [2,3,11,16–22]. The major challenges of the co-deposition of nanoparticles seem to be the co-deposition of a sufficient number of nanoparticles, and avoiding the agglomeration of particles suspended in the plating solutions. In the conventional methods of electrodeposition, one problem is that high nanoparticle agglomeration occurs easily due to high surface activity of the nanoparticles [9,24]. Homogeneity of the composite coating was promoted by decreasing the ionic concentration of the electrolyte solution and the using a specific ultrasonic energy treatment. The addition of Table 1 Bath compositions and electrodeposition conditions for nano SiC-reinforced MMC production. Nickel sulfate (Ni2 SO4 ·6H2 O) (g/l) Nickel chloride (NiCl2 ·6H2 O) (g/l) Boric acid (H3 BO3 ) (g/l) Sodyumdodecyl sulfate (g/l) Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) (mg/l) Silicon carbide (SiC) (g/l) (0.1–1 m) pH Temperature (◦ C) Current density (A/dm2 ) Stirring speed (rpm) Plating time (h) 300 50 40 0.2 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 20 4 45 3 250, 650 2 metal cationic accelerants and organic surfactants in an electrolytic bath improved the amount and the distribution of co-deposited particles [14,23–25]. In this study, attempts have been made to develop composite coatings based on a Ni-SiC system using a SiC particle size between 100 and 1000 nm. This work focuses on the effects of stirring speed and surfactant content on the morphology of the composite coatings, and the hardness and wear resistance of the Ni SiC coatings is evaluated. Because the co-deposited SiC content is a crucial factor for the coating properties, special attention was paid to evaluate high volumes of SiC (e.g. 12 vol.%) in the coating layer. 2. Experimental procedure The processed plating electrolyte was a nickel sulfate bath for which the composition, and the range of experimental process parameters are shown in Table 1. The particle size range of the SiC particles used in the experiment is 100–1000 nm. A nickel plate of 30 mm 35 mm was used as the anode, and a stationary iron substrate was used as the cathode. The bath was stirred by a magnetic stirrer with a stirring speed between 250 and 650 rpm and was heated to 45 ◦ C. the bath pH was fixed at 4. Prior to deposition, the zeta potential of ceramic particles was measured with Malvern Zetasizer Nano Series Nano-ZS model instrument. After co-deposition, a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM 6060 LV) was used to observe the surface and the crosssection microstructures of the deposits. XRD analysis was carried out at a speed of 1◦ /min in the 2 range of 10–100◦ with a Rigaku D/MAX/2200/PC model device. The hardness of the coatings was measured using a Vicker’s microhardness indenter (Leica VMHT) with a load of 50 g. The reciprocating tribological behaviors of the electrodeposited SiC nano composite coatings, sliding against M50 steel ball (Ø 10 mm) were examined on a CSM Instruments Tribometer designed according to DIN 50 324 and ASTM G 99-95a in a ball-on-disk configuration. The wear tests were performed at a constant applied load of 1 N with a sliding speed of 50 mm/s. The morphologies of the wear traces were observed using SEMEDS analysis. The particle volume fractions were calculated directly from the 6060 LV SEM image analysis program, which based on phase area method. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Effect of stirring speed on distribution of co-deposited SiC particles In this study, a number of stirring speeds were investigated to optimize the deposition parameters. Here, two different stirring speeds are presented to show the effect of stirring speed on the course of electrodeposition at a constant surfactant concentration of 300 mg/l. Hence, one low speed (250 rpm) and one high F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 55 Fig. 1. Cross-sectional SEM micrographs of the composite coatings showing the distribution of SiC particles that were deposited with the stirring speeds of (a) 250 rpm or (b) 650 rpm. speed (650 rpm) were chosen. Fig. 1 shows cross-sectional SEM micrographs of the coatings deposited at these stirring speeds. The volume percent of co-deposited SiC is found to be 2.54 vol.% at the stirring speed of 250 rpm. Increasing the stirring speed to 650 rpm led to an increase in the co-deposited SiC up to 10.05 vol. %. Because the 650 rpm stirring speed resulted in producing segregation-free and high SiC volume percentage co-deposited layers, the stirring speed for all coatings was fixed at this level. Higher stirring speeds were also studied in this work. Increasing stirring speed beyond 650 rpm resulted in obtaining layers with less SiC and an inhomogeneous distribution of SiC. Therefore, the results for higher stirring speeds were not reported in this work. 3.2. Effect of surfactant (CTAB) concentration on the structure Fig. 2 shows cross-sectional SEM micrographs of coatings deposited with different surfactant (CTAB) concentrations in the electrolyte. Increasing the CTAB concentration resulted in increasing the volume percentage of co-deposited SiC particles. Introducing CTAB into the electrolyte not only increased particle volume in the deposited layer but also resulted in a nonagglomerated dispersion of particles. As seen in Fig. 3a, increasing the concentration of the surfactant increased the zeta potential of the SiC particles. It has been reported by Filiâtre et al. [26] that the zeta potential of SiC particles would be increased by adsorption of the cationic surfactant CTAB. The positive zeta potential offers an extra adhesion force between the inert particles and the cathode and results in increasing the amount of the embedded SiC particles. It is shown that the volume fraction of the co-deposited SiC can be increased up to approximately 11.5 vol.% by increasing the concentration of the surfactant CTAB (Fig. 3b). As stated by Lee et al. [27], the adsorption of nickel ions and protons in the plating bath on the SiC particle surface occurs, which forms an ionic cloud around the SiC particles. The size of the ionic cloud affects the electrophoretic behavior: the electrophoresis rate is higher with the increased adsorption of nickel ions and protons. The XRD analysis is a suitable method to determine the crystalline phase and presence of SiC nano-particles in the matrix of Ni SiC MMCs. Fig. 4 shows the XRD patterns of pure nickel and Ni SiC nano composites. The intensity of the (2 0 0) diffraction peak of nickel in the nano composite coating is lower, and the peak width is broader than that of the nickel coating (see Fig. 4b), as seen in previous literature [12,28]. This is attributed to the decrease in the grain size of the Ni SiC nano composite coating by the addition of SiC nano-particles to the plating bath. SiC nano-particulates provide more nucleation sites and hence retard the crystal growth; subsequently, the corresponding nickel matrix in the composite coating has a smaller crystal size [12]. This may be correlated with [100] texture, which is associated with deposits with minimum hardness and maximum ductility [3,28]. The Ni–SiC nano-composite has exhibited increased (1 1 1), (2 2 2) and (3 1 1) diffraction lines with an attenuation of the (2 0 0) line. 3.3. Effect of plating parameters on microhardness The hardnesses of the unreinforced Ni coating and nano-SiC codeposited Ni-MMCs are shown in Fig. 5. It can be inferred that the hardnesses of the co-deposited layer is highly correlated with the volume fraction of SiC. According to Fig. 5, the enhanced hardness results from the increased SiC content in the deposit. The microhardness of the Ni SiC composite coating containing 10.05 vol.% SiC is 571 Hv while the microhardness of a pure nickel coating is only 280 Hv. It is interesting to note that, as Hou et al. [11] explained, the addition of surfactant in the electrolyte indeed significantly enhances the hardness of the Ni deposit. Although the reason is not clear, it is very encouraging to observe that this surfactant containing Ni deposits possess higher hardness than pure Ni through this electro-co-deposition process, because the enhanced wear property is expected from the hardened matrix [11]. Thus, the present study would focus on the wear performance of well-dispersed SiC content in the co-deposition layer. 3.4. Lattice distortion of nickel matrix Lattice distortion of the Ni matrix for an unreinforced alloy and for the Ni SiC, composite matrix was calculated with basic reflections from the crystal planes. The lattice constants for unreinforced Ni coatings were also calculated and then compared with the co-deposited Ni matrix reflections. The deviation in the lattice constants of the unreinforced Ni coatings and the composite matrices were assessed as lattice distortion. For an f.c.c. system, the lattice constant can be calculated as follows [29]: a2 = ( 2 4 sin2 )(h2 + k2 + l2 ) (1) The deviation in the lattice constant, depending on the particle content and deposition parameters is calculated with the equation, Distortion% = 100[ a0 − a1 ] a0 (2) where a0 is the lattice constant of the unreinforced Ni coating and a1 is the lattice constant of the Ni matrix for composites produced under different conditions. 56 F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 30 Volume percentage of SiC (vol. %) Fig. 2. SEM micrographs of the distribution of SiC particles in the cross-section of composite coatings that were prepared with the following concentrations of CTAB; (a) 0 mg/l, (b) 100 mg/l, (c) 200 mg/l, (d) 300 mg/l or (e) 400 mg/l. (a) Zeta potential (mV) 20 10 0 -10 -20 -30 0 100 200 300 400 Concentration of surfactant (CTAB) (mg/l) 12 (b) 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 100 200 300 400 CTAB concentration (mg/l) Fig. 3. (a) CTAB concentration–zeta potential relationship, (b) the volume percentage of co-deposited SiC particles for various concentrations of CTAB. F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 57 0,5 % Distortion 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0,0 (111) (200) (311) -0,1 0 100 200 300 400 500 CTAB concentration (mg/l) Fig. 6. Effect of the CTAB concentration in the electrolyte on the lattice distortion of the Ni matrix. Fig. 4. Effect of various concentrations of particles in the electrolyte on XRD patterns. The effect of the surfactant (CTAB) concentration on the lattice distortion was calculated and is demonstrated in Fig. 6. Increasing the CTAB initially showed a positive lattice distortion behavior up to a 300 mg/l concentration. Beyond this surfactant concentration, the lattice distortion values showed a sharp decrease in a negative way. 3.5. Wear and friction 3.5.1. Effect of surfactant on wear and friction properties The effect of the surfactant concentration in the electrolyte was studied at a constant particle concentration of 20 g/l. It is noted that free cationic surfactant CTAB embedded in the nickel matrix resulted in a hardened matrix; therefore, there was a decrease in the wear track as shown in Fig. 7. The wear tracks in Fig. 7 are as follows: 7a (0 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte), 7b (100 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte), 7c (200 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte), 7d (300 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte) and 7e (400 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte). Fig. 7 shows the morphology of the worn surfaces of the composite coatings deposited at various surfactant (CTAB) concentrations. Plastic deformation of the coatings was observed in all cases. However, the degree of plastic deformation was reduced for the coatings 600 10,05% 11,37% Microhardness (HV) 500 8,47% 400 1,26% 1,67% 0 100 300 200 100 0 Ni 200 300 400 CTAB concentration (mg/l) Fig. 5. Effect of the CTAB concentration in the electrolyte on microhardness. The percentage values are presented to show particle volume in the deposited layer. deposited at high CTAB concentrations, except for the coatings that were produced with 400 mg/l CTAB. The width of the wear track produced on the coated surfaces was used as a qualitative measure to compare the wear resistance of the composite coatings. Increasing the CTAB concentration in the electrolyte resulted in smaller and shallower wear tracks. The width of the wear track was decreased up to 300 mg/l CTAB addition. Beyond this value, the surface damage was increased, and the wear tracks showed again larger widths and depths. It was found that the width of the wear track of the coatings deposited with 300 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte was smaller than the widths of the wear tracks of the coatings deposited with all other CTAB concentrations. As mentioned earlier, higher contents of SiC particles in the coatings were detected for the coatings deposited with the increased amount of CTAB. A large volume fraction of reinforced particles in the metal matrix has the effect of reducing the distance between the particles in the matrix and thus can make the coating harder and more resistant to plastic deformation. Consequently, it becomes more difficult for the counter ball to remove the reinforced particles from the coating, and the lack of plastic deformation increases the wear resistance of the composite coating. It is possible that the surfactant CTAB in the electrolyte would significantly decrease the agglomeration of SiC particles; therefore, a high amount of embedded SiC particles can be achieved. Furthermore, the present results show the SiC composition in the co-deposition layer is enhanced by the well-dispersed and relatively smaller SiC particles in the electrolyte, which have a higher chance of being embedded in the cathode. However, when the CTAB concentration is increased to 400 mg/l in the electrolyte, the wear loss is increased as shown in Figs. 7e and 8a. The EDS compositional analysis on different areas of the wear surface detected some amounts of iron, molybdenum and chromium, which indicated that some debris was transferred from the counter ball M50 to the surface. Microscopic examination of the worn surface of the counter ball observed a round-shaped wear scar with numerous thin and smooth scratches. This observation suggests that the counter ball experienced a polishing wear due to the abrasive action of hard SiC particles of the composite coatings. The hardness of the counter ball is lower than that of SiC particles, and the SiC particles could plough into the surface of the counter ball. Increasing the amount of SiC in the deposited layer resulted in increasing the elemental transfer from the steel ball. The highest amount of iron, molybdenum and chromium was detected on the worn surface of the sample that was produced with 400 mg/l CTAB. This result was attributed to poor interface bonding. Fig. 8 shows the variation in wear rate and the coefficient of friction of the Ni–SiC nano composite coatings with the varying 58 F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 Fig. 7. SEM morphology of the wear tracks of composite coatings prepared with the following concentrations of CTAB: (a) 0 mg/l CTAB (1.26 vol.% SiC), (b) 100 mg/l CTAB (1.67 vol.% SiC), (c) 200 mg/l CTAB (8.47 vol.% SiC), (d) 300 mg/l CTAB (10.05 vol.% SiC) and (e) 400 mg/l CTAB (11.37 vol.% SiC). (b) 20 1,26% 16 Ni 1,67% O 12 8,47% 11,37% 8 10,05% 4 0 Ni 0 100 200 CTAB (mg/l) 300 400 Coefficient of Friction (η') Wear Rate (x10-4 mm3/Nm) (a) 1,6 1,4 1,2 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 CTAB (mg/l) Fig. 8. Effect of the concentration of CTAB on (a) wear rate and (b) friction coefficient of Ni–SiC composite coatings. F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 59 Fig. 9. SEM morphology of the wear tracks of composite coatings prepared with the following concentrations of CTAB: (a) 0 mg/l CTAB (1.26 vol.% SiC), (b) 100 mg/l CTAB (1.67 vol.% SiC), (c) 200 mg/l CTAB (8.47 vol.% SiC), (d) 300 mg/l CTAB (10.05 vol.% SiC) and (e) 400 mg/l CTAB (11.37 vol.% SiC). concentration of CTAB. It is seen in Fig. 8a that the Ni–10.05 % SiC nano composite coating has a minimum wear rate, which is in accordance with Archard’s law [30] (compare Figs. 5 and 8). As previously stated, the microhardness of the nanocomposite coatings increases with an increasing percentage of the nano-SiC, up to 300 mg/l CTAB concentration. The increase in the microhardness and the decrease in the wear rate of the Ni–SiC nanocomposite coatings (as compared to the Ni coating) can be explained because the SiC nanoparticles codeposited in the Ni matrix can restrain the growth of the Ni grains and the plastic deformation of the matrix under a loading by way of grain-refining and dispersive strengthening effects. The grainrefining and dispersive strengthening effects become stronger with increasing nano-SiC content; thus, the microhardness and wear resistance of the Ni-SiC composite coatings increase with increasing nano-SiC content [30]. However, there is no obvious relation between the coefficient of friction and CTAB, as shown in Fig 8b. It can be concluded that introducing higher amounts of SiC by increasing the addition of CTAB in the electrolyte does not affect the coefficient of friction. In general, a large tendency for plastic deformation of asperity junctions results in a higher and unstable friction coefficient. SEM pictures of wear tracks on electrodeposited Ni–SiC coatings are shown in Fig. 9 at high magnification. Cracking and spalling can be seen on the worn surface of the Ni coating produced without CTAB addition to the electrolyte (Fig. 9a). The presence of the cracking and spalling causes much wear loss. The results suggest that the load-bearing capacity, and the wear resistance of the CTABfree deposited Ni film are rather weak. Addition of 100 mg/l CTAB produced a similar worn surface. The composite that was produced with 100 mg/l CTAB in the electrolyte showed a similar worn surface, but a smaller amount of plastic deformation associated with some small cracks (Fig. 9b). In the morphology of the worn surfaces of the samples produced with 200 and 300 mg/l CTAB addition, the worn areas are quite smooth. The appearance of all wear tracks of the coatings produced with 200 and 300 mg/l CTAB addition was 60 F. Kılıc¸ et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 419 (2013) 53–60 similar and not dependent on the content of SiC particles in the composite coatings (Fig. 9c and d). The presence of wear debris will cause larger wearing losses. The anti-wear performance of the composite produced with the 400 mg/l CTAB addition to the electrolyte is poorer than that of the composite coating produced with the 300 mg/l CTAB addition. Fig. 9e is the wear track morphology of the composite coating produced with the 400 mg/l CTAB concentration. Abrasive grooves can be found in the direction parallel to the sliding, and a considerable amount of debris can also be found in the wear track. It is possible that the formation of the debris is due to weak bonding between the agglomerated particles and the nickel matrix. Under the electrodeposition conditions, the deposited nickel likely cannot bind the agglomerated particles tightly, and this may increase the brittleness of the coatings. As a result, the wearing counter body can easily damage the surface of the coatings, and consequently, the wear weight losses increase. The experimental result showed that the incorporation of SiC particles in the particle range of 100–1000 nm in the matrix can largely improve the tribological performance of the co-deposited Ni SiC composite coatings. It is well known that the hardness and other mechanical properties of metal matrix composites depend in general on the amount and size of the dispersed phase (apart from the mechanical characteristics of the matrix). The amount and size of particles define two kinds of reinforcing mechanisms in metal matrix composite materials: dispersion- strengthening and particle-strengthening. Because the particle range in this study is between 100 and 1000 nm, the dispersion-strengthening mechanism can play the main role through a dislocation–particle interaction or Orowan hardening mechanism. Strengthening is achieved because particles restrain deformation of the matrix by a mechanical constraint. 4. Conclusions 1. SiC nanoparticle-reinforced (100–1000 nm) Ni metal matrix composites were successfully produced by D.C. electroplating, up to 11.37 vol.% particle co-deposition. 2. Increasing the surfactant (CTAB) content resulted in an increase of SiC vol.% within the Ni matrix and a segregation-free dispersion of nanoparticle deposition. 3. The hardness values of the nano SiC-reinforced electrodeposited coatings were as high as 571 Hv because of unique dispersion effects. 4. It was observed that the volume percentage of SiC in coatings increases with increasing surfactant (CTAB) concentration. 5. Increasing the surfactant (CTAB) concentration resulted in the lattice distortion of the Ni matrix. 6. Wear resistance of the coatings was increased with increasing surfactant (CTAB) content up to 300 mg/l in the electrolyte, but beyond this concentration, the wear resistance decreased. 7. The co-deposited Ni–SiC nanocomposite coatings show higher friction coefficients and better wear resistance compared to the as-deposited Ni film, which can be attributed to the incorporation of nano-sized SiC particles in the deposit. These nanoparticles greatly increase the hardness of the composite coating through grain refinement strengthening and dispersionstrengthening mechanisms. Acknowledgments This work is supported by the Scientific and Technical Research council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under contract number 106M253. 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