Effect of Particle Concentration on the Microstructure and Properties of Electrodeposited Nickel–Diamond Composite Coatings
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript presents original and interesting results of microstructure characterization correlated with COMSOL simulations as well as wear tests of nickel-diamond coatings produced with electrodeposition method. The article is well organized and written in correct English. In the Introduction section Authors present the results in this topic obtained by other research groups and define the gaps, being the basis of the aim of this work.
The main drawback of this article is that Authors failed to provide cross-sectional images of the coatings with the methods such as SEM and/or TEM – as the title of the work would suggest detailed microstructure characterization. The microstructure features are presented and discussed basing on only XRD data i.e. grain size variation was evaluated by the Rietveld refinement method etc. Based on the presented data, it is not known, for example, what the distribution of diamond particles is across the cross-section of the coatings. What is the coating thickness? Is it the same for all the particle concentrations? Do Authors have such a possibility to provide such results?
Author Response
Responses to the referees’ comments
Reviewer #1: The manuscript presents original and interesting results of microstructure characterization correlated with COMSOL simulations as well as wear tests of nickel-diamond coatings produced with electrodeposition method. The article is well organized and written in correct English. In the Introduction section Authors present the results in this topic obtained by other research groups and define the gaps, being the basis of the aim of this work.
1）The main drawback of this article is that Authors failed to provide cross-sectional images of the coatings with the methods such as SEM and/or TEM - as the title of the work would suggest detailed microstructure characterization, The microstructure features are presented and discussed basing on only XRD data i.e. grain size variation was evaluated by the Rietveld refinement method etc. Based on the presented data, it is not known, for example, what the distribution of diamond particles is across the cross-section of the coatings, What is the coating thickness? ls it the same for all the particle concentrations? Do Authors have such a possibility to provide such results?
Responses to Reviewer #1:
Greatly thanks for your precious suggestions to our manuscript. You are very right about the cross-sectional morphologies of the coatings, which would be helpful for improving the quality of the manuscript.
The Ni-diamond composite coatings were prepared at a given time of 45 min at 1 A/dm2 with various concentrations of diamond particles in electrolyte, which would lead to the various thicknesses of the coatings. It was well known that the co-deposition of the suspended particles, no matter the conductive or nonconductive particles, could affect the deposition efficiency of the Ni deposits on the cathode, so that the thickness of the Ni-diamond composite coating could be affected by the concentration of the diamond in the electrolyte. Therefore, the thickness of the Ni-diamond was varied due to the various concentrations of the particles.
With respect to the cross-sectional morphologies, firstly we are deeply sorry for the absence of the morphologies due to the deficiency of the revision time. Secondly, this work mainly explored the tailoring role of the diamond particles on the microstructure including crystallite size and texture of the Ni-diamond coating. In lots of related works, the tailored microstructures of the Ni composite coatings had been successfully proved and calculated by the Rietveld refinement method based on XRD results, which could effectively illustrate the microstructure evolution information (mainly including crystalline size and texture of Ni deposits) induced by the co-deposited particles [1-5]. Meanwhile, the COMSOL simulation method have been extensively adopted to analyze the tailoring role and mechanism of the particles in Ni composite coatings by changing the electric field distribution near the deposition cathode [6-8]. Therefore, this work utilized both the Rietveld method and COMSOL method to investigate the tailoring role of the diamond particles in the coatings, which could be accurate and credible, even though no cross-sectional morphologies. Finally, we are still deeply sorry for the cross-sectional morphologies, please forgive us!
[1] Zhang Z, Jiang C, Fu P, et al. Microstructure and texture of electrodeposited Ni–ZrC composite coatings investigated by Rietveld XRD line profile analysis[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2015, 626: 118-123.
[2] Zhao Y, Cai F, Wang C, et al. Investigation on the evolution of microstructure and texture of electroplated Ni–Ti composite coating by Rietveld method[J]. Applied Surface Science, 2015, 353: 1023-1030.
[3] Bouzit F Z, Nemamcha A, Moumeni H, et al. Morphology and Rietveld analysis of nanostructured Co-Ni electrodeposited thin films obtained at different current densities[J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2017, 315: 172-180.
[4] Zhang Z, Jiang C, Cai F, et al. Two stages for the evolution of crystallite size and texture of electrodeposited Ni–ZrC composite coating[J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2015, 261: 122-129.
[5] Tarkowski L, Indyka P, Bełtowska-Lehman E. XRD characterisation of composite Ni-based coatings prepared by electrodeposition[J]. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2012, 284: 40-43.
[6] Wang L, Ren J, Zhao Y, et al. Effect of Ti microparticles on the microstructure and properties of Ni-Ti composite coating prepared by electrodeposition[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2022, 908: 164313.
[7] Wang L, Xing S, Shen Z, et al. The synergistic role of Ti microparticles and CeO2 nanoparticles in tailoring microstructures and properties of high-quality Ni matrix nanocomposite coating[J]. Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 2022, 105: 182-193.
[8] Priyadarshi P, Kishore K, Maurya R. Electrodeposited Ni on copper substrate: An experimental and simulation comparative study[J]. International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM), 2023, 17(4): 1489-1495.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe topic addressed by the authors is highly interesting as electrodeposition processes offer the possibility to impart specific properties beyond those exhibited by the substrate. Moreover, the use of coatings enhances the performance and wear resistance of the base material. However, several aspects need to be considered to adequately control the process and consequently obtain coatings with well-defined characteristics. The text requires some revisions regarding style as it is not immediately comprehensible.
- In the introduction, the bibliography section needs some additions to increase the sources necessary to better understand the technical-scientific context. Therefore, the inclusion of the following works is suggested:
- Almonti, D., Baiocco, G., Della Millia, M., Mingione, E., Menna, E., Rubino, G., ... & Ucciardello, N. (2024, February). Morphological and functional characterization of electroplated Ni-graphene composite coatings. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2692, No. 1, p. 012008). IOP Publishing.
- Verma, K., Cao, H., Mandapalli, P., & Wille, R. (2020). Modeling and simulation of electrophoretic deposition coatings. Journal of Computational Science, 41, 101075.
- Awasthi, S., Goel, S., Pandey, C. P., & Balani, K. (2017). Multi-length scale tribology of electrophoretically deposited nickel-diamond coatings. JOM, 69, 227-235.
- In the "Preparation of the coatings" section, the authors should better explain the reasons for choosing the parameters used, and whether they are related to academic interest applications and/or industrial application contexts.
- Figure 1 is out of focus and in the second image of (b), the "u" appears as an "n".
- Figure 3 lacks the "%" symbol on the x-axis.
- Figure 4, along the arrow, the units are incorrect and should be replaced with "g/L".
- Lines 231 - 238 contain typographical errors, with bold on some words and differences in font size. The authors should perform a check on the entire manuscript to correct them.
- Figure 10, the images are not in focus and need correction; additionally, the x-axis title is not written in English.
- In the conclusions section, the authors should briefly mention some aspects related to the possible future developments of this study and its potential practical applications.
Check for some errors related to font size and bold
Author Response
Responses to the referees’ comments
Reviewer #2: The topic addressed by the authors is highly interesting as electrodeposition processes offer the possibility to impart specific properties beyond those exhibited by the substrate. Moreover, the use of coatings enhances the performance and wear resistance of the base material. However, several aspects need to be considered to adequately control the process and consequently obtain coatings with well-defined characteristics. The text reguires some revisions regarding style as it is not immediately comprehensible.
Responses to Reviewer #2:
1）In the introduction, the bibliography section needs some additions to increase the sourcesnecessary to better understand the technical-scientific context. Therefore, the inclusion of thefollowing works is suggested:
Almonti, D., Baiocco, G., Della Milia, M., Mingione, E., Menna, E., Rubino, G., ...& UcciardelloN. (2024. February). Morphological and functional characterization of electroplated Ni-graphenecomposite coatings. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2692,No.1, p. 012008). 1OPPublishing.
Verma, K.. Cao, H., Mandapalli, P., & Wille, R. (2020). Modeling and simulation of electrophoreticdeposition coatings.Journal of Computational Science, 41,101075.
Awasthi, S.. Goel, S., Pandey, C.P., & Balani, K. (2017). Multi-length scale tribology ofelectrophoretically deposited nickel-diamond coatings. JOM, 69, 227-235.
Answer:
Dear reviewer, grateful thanks for your careful review.
Your comments were helpful in improving the quality of this manuscript. We have cited the above papers in the text and have highlighted them in yellow in the references.
- In the "Preparation of the coatings" section, the authors should better explain the reasons forchoosing the parameters used, and whether they are related to academic interest applicationsand/or industrial application contexts.
Answer：
Greatly thanks for this nice comment. We have explained in the text the reasons for the chosen experimental parameters, which have been highlighted in yellow in the text as follows:
Based on previous experimental experience and reference to the experimental parameters of relevant academic papers, the following experimental parameters were used in this experiment. The suspensions were consisted by the addition of the diamond particles (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 g/L, particle size of about 1~2 μm) to the Watts solution. Following 30 minutes of ultrasonic treatment, the suspension underwent magnetic stirring for 3 hours at a rotational speed of 400 rpm and a temperature of 50°C to achieve uniform dispersion of the diamond particles in the electrolyte.
- Figure 1 is out of focus and in the second image of (b), the "u" appears as an "n".
Answer:
Thank you very much for your suggestions. Here, n has been changed to u in Figure 1.
- Fiqure 3 lacks the "%" symbol on the x-axis.
Answer:
Greatly thanks for this nice suggestion. We have added the due unit symbol g/L to the x-axis of Figure 3.
- Fiqure 4, along the arrow, the units are incorrect and should be replaced with "g/L"
Answer:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments! The incorrect unit in figure 4 has been changed.
- Lines 231 - 238 contain typographical errors, with bold on some words and differences in fontsize. The authors should perform a check on the entire manuscript to correct them.
Answer:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments! Typographical errors in lines 231 - 238, font size and thickness have been corrected, and we have gone through the entire text and corrected the formatting problems.
- Figure 10, the images are not in focus and need correction; additionally, the x-axis title is notwritten in English.
Answer:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments! For Figure 10, which was not clear and had the wrong language for the x-axis, we have improved its clarity and changed the x-axis coordinates to English.
- In the conclusions section, the authors should briefly mention some aspects related to thepossible future developments of this study and its potential practical applications.
Answer:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments! We have summarized the applications of plating as well as the prospects for future development in the conclusion section, which has been highlighted in yellow, as follows:
Nickel-diamond composite coatings or other composite coatings are widely used in aerospace, energy and environmental protection. Its excellent performance makes it excel in various harsh environments. With the continuous development of science and technology, the application prospect of nickel-based composite plating will be broader, bringing more convenience and safety to human production and life.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper may be accepted in the present form
