Fabrication of Chromium (III) Oxide (Cr2O3) Coating by Electrophoretic Deposition

Abstract

Chromium (III) oxide has been widely used as a coating material for corrosion resistance. In this study, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of nano chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3) particle (60 nm) was investigated to develop coatings with potential applications of anticorrosive material. The stable suspension of Nano‐Cr2O3 particles were obtained in the mixture of acetylacetone and ethanol containing 0.00025 M nitric acid. The coating growth rate was studied with using different deposition times in the range of 1–30 min at voltages of 50–150 V with various concentrations of suspension. The electrophoretic Cr2O3 coating was sintered at 1000°C and 1200°C for 2 h. The micro‐morphology of coating was qualitatively characterized by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM). The SEM micrographs obviously showed that the electrophoretic Cr2O3 coating has formed a uniform and dense ultrathin layer after sintering at 1200°C. We demonstrated that nano‐Cr2O3 coating could be easily obtained by EPD for the surface modification of metallic materials for potential interest in hard wear‐resistant and/or low‐friction coatings.