Effect of carbon nanotube content and annealing temperature on corrosion performance of carbon nanotube/Ni composite layer

Abstract Adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to metal composites changes their corrosion resistance, which is significantly affected by the distribution of CNTs. In this study, the effect of the content and distribution of CNTs on the corrosion resistance of composites was investigated by changing the electrodeposition process. The results indicated that could inhibit grain growth and act as an elemental channel for passivation film formation, which positively enhanced the corrosion resistance of the material. However, the annealing used to improve the bonding strength of CNTs to the matrix increased the grain size of the material, which had a weakening effect on the corrosion resistance. Using ultrasonic in electrodeposition had an obvious promoting effect on the uniform distribution of CNTs. The composites with 0.1 g/L CNT showed the best corrosion resistance after annealing for 30 min at 600 °C.