Formation of nickel–boron–molybdenum ( Ni – B – Mo ) coating on steel by electroless plating and evaluation of their morphology, hardness and tribological properties post heat treatment at different temperatures for 1 h is investigated. The 25 μm thick coating is uniform and adhesion between the substrate and coating is good. Ni – B – Mo coating was amorphous-like structure in their as-plated condition and by 400°C heat-treated coating, nickel fully crystallized and nickel borides and molybdenum carbide were formed. All coatings exhibited higher hardness than the substrate steel. Hardness values of all coatings up to 400°C did not change distinctively but decreased partly beyond 400°C. Friction coefficient reached lowest value post heat treatment at 300°C but later increased with increasing tempering temperature. Wear resistance was lowest in as-plated coating; however it reached the highest value at 300°C. Worn surface of the coatings showed the abrasive wear as the dominant wear mechanism. An additional adhesive wear mechanism was detected in coating tempered at 550°C. Moreover, our results confirmed that the molybdenum addition improved the thermal stability of the resulting coating. Therefore, Ni – B – Mo coating has potential for application in precision mould, optical parts mould or bipolar plates, where thermal stability is essential.

The Ni-B-Mo coating on steel by electroless plating and the evaluation of the morphology and corrosion performance after applying heat treatments at different temperatures for 1 h were investigated in this study. The 25-lm-thick coating was uniform and adhesion between the substrate and the coating was good. The coating consisted of an amorphous-like structure in their as-plated condition, and after annealing at 400°C for 1 h, crystallized nickel, nickel borides, and molybdenum carbide were formed. Immersion tests in 10% HCl solution and potentiodynamic polarization measurements in 3.5% NaCl aqueous solution were applied to investigate corrosion resistance. The corrosion performance of heat-treated coatings was compared with steel and the as-plated coating. By increasing the annealing temperature, corrosion potential shifted toward a noble direction, corrosion current density decreased and the weight loss of specimens decreased, demonstrating an increase in corrosion resistance. Best corrosion performance was achieved by the coating heat treated at 550°C .