Various current and electrolyte solutions of electroplating for medium carbon steel towards coating performance as corrosive protection

Electroplating is utilized to protect metals from environmental influences. This study aims to determine the effect of solution composition and electric current on coating thickness and to observe morphology with nickel plating. The electrical currents were set in 0.5A, 1A, and 1.5A. Meanwhile, the electrolyte solutions consist of NiSO4, NiCl2, H3BO3, H2O, and were added in different compositions. In this research, several characterizations were conducted to measure the thickness of the coated layer using a micrometer. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) was used to observe the surface morphology. The thickness test is shown that the higher current obtained the thicker coating layer. Moreover, the higher compositions of electrolyte solutions affect more coating layer on the base metal surface. The rough surface was depicted on metal coated in low current. New iron-nickel and iron-nickel-oxide was detected by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) as Fe0.64Ni0.36 and NiFe2O4.