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Received: February 01, 2024; Revised: February 09, 2024; Accepted: February 09, 2024
Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate corrosion and cavitation-erosion characteristics of the electroless nickel plating layer with heat treatment. The crystallization temperature of the electroless nickel plating layer was about 410 ℃. The phase transformation energy was confirmed to be 12.66 J/g. With increasing heat treatment temperature, the amorphous electroless nickel plating layer gradually changed to crystalline Ni and Ni3P. At the same time, the crystal grain size was also increased. Additionally, when heat treatment was performed at a temperature above 400 ℃, NiO phase was observed due to oxidation phenomenon. As a result of the electrochemical polarization experiment, the corrosion resistance of the heattreated electroless nickel plating layers was superior to that of the as-deposited plating layer. This was because crystal grains became larger and grain boundaries decreased during heat treatment. The cavitationerosion resistance of heat-treated plating layers tended to be superior to that of as-deposited plating layers due to increased microhardness.