Production of superhydrophilic MgB2 coatings by electroless coating method

Electroless coatings have been used in a wide range of fields because they offer a low-cost process and provide the hard surfaces having uniform thickness on the parts with rough and mixed geometry. Recently a potential pertaining to be able use electroless MgB2 coatings as an alternative to electroless Ni-B and Ni-P coatings attracts attention. However MgB2 coatings are generally produced using different and more expensive techniques apart from electroless deposition methods and the investigations on especially superconductivity and diamagnetism properties of these coatings have been performed. In this study, unreinforced and SiO2 nanoparticle-reinforced MgB2 coatings were produced on AISI 1020 steel using electroless deposition method and the structural properties via X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscope, the mechanical behavior using microhardness tester, tribological behavior by pin-on-disc tribotester and wettability properties using contact angle meters were investigated for the produced coatings. An homogeneous and dense microstructure and a hardness rising of 5-fold according to the substrate were obtained for the deposits exhibited a crystallographically hexagonal structure. Also contact angle measurements showed that both the unreinforced and SiO2 nanoparticle-reinforced MgB2 coatings have a super hydrophilic character.