The effect of bath temperature on the crystallite size and microstructure of Ni–CeO2 nanocomposite coating

Nickel–ceria nanocomposite coating has been synthesized by a pulse electrodeposition technique to investigate the effect of temperature on the microstructure of the composite coating. The experimental result shows that the crystallite size of Ni decreases with the increase of bath temperature up to 45 °C, beyond this temperature the crystallite size of Ni again increases. A theoretical formula has been established for evaluating the effect of temperature on the grain size. It has been also found that the co-deposition of ceria in the nickel matrix and hardness value of the nickel-ceria nanocomposite coating increase up to a bath temperature of 45 °C, beyond this temperature both these factors decrease.