The microstructure and protective properties of electroplating zinc films on NdFeB from a chloride-free nonaqueous bath

Abstract

The traditional aqueous electroplating of zinc film causes significant corrosion of NdFeB during the electroplating process, which is accompanied by hydrogen evolution reactions. In this study, electroplating zinc film is carried out from a chloride-free nonaqueous bath using zinc acetate (Zn(OAc)₂) as the main salt, sodium acetate (NaOAc) as the conducting salt, and ethylene glycol (EG) as the solvent. The electrochemical properties of the EG bath with Zn(OAc)₂ and NaOAc are characterized by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) together with a Hull cell test on brass. The results of the experiment show that the Zn(OAc)₂ concentration, current density, and temperature significantly impact the deposition behavior of zinc. Moreover, the open circuit potential (OCP) test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results demonstrated that the corrosion of NdFeB in the EG bath containing 0.7 M Zn(OAc)₂ and NaOAc is effectively inhibited compared to when using the traditional aqueous zinc plating bath. A dense zinc film with a metallic appearance is successfully deposited on the NdFeB surface from the EG bath containing 0.7 M Zn(OAc)₂ and NaOAc at 6 mA cm⁻² and 60 °C. Comparative experiments demonstrate that the as-deposited Zn film exhibits superior protective performance and exerts less damage to NdFeB compared to the aqueous electroplating film.