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

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 (Cr 2 O 3 ) particle (60 nm) was investigated to develop coatings with potential applications of anticorrosive material. The stable suspension of Nano-Cr 2 O 3 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 Cr 2 O 3 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 Cr 2 O 3 coating has formed a uniform and dense ultrathin layer after sintering at 1200°C. We demonstrated that nano-Cr 2 O 3 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.