Effect of Current Density on Microstructure of Mn-Cu Thin Films produced by Electroplating Coating Technique

In the present study, 304 stainless steel (SS) was electrochemically plated with nanocrystalline Mn-Cu alloy coatings from a bath containing ammonium sulfate. The effects of current density on the microstructure, crystallographic structure, and chemical composition of the deposits were studied. The results showed that at low current densities, discontinuous coatings with a large amount of Cu can be obtained. Further increase in current density resulted in amorphous, compact and heterogeneous coatings with a small amount of Cu. The presence of Cu at low contents in precipitated coatings delayed the phase transformation of as-deposited ductile g-Mn to the brittle and hard a-Mn. However, the results did not show any specific changes in the grain size of the coatings with variation of current densities.