Challenges and strategies of surface modification of electrogalvanized coatings for electron microscopy analysis

Narin Jantaping; Chaiyasit Banjongprasert; Torranin Chairuangsri; Ussadawut Patakham; Yuttanant Boonyongmaneerat

doi:10.1016/j.micron.2016.04.006

Challenges and strategies of surface modification of electrogalvanized coatings for electron microscopy analysis

Micron. 2016 Jul:86:48-53. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.04.006. Epub 2016 Apr 25.

Authors

Narin Jantaping¹, Chaiyasit Banjongprasert², Torranin Chairuangsri³, Ussadawut Patakham⁴, Yuttanant Boonyongmaneerat⁵

Affiliations

¹ Nanoscience and Technology, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
² Department of Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
³ Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁴ National Metal and Materials Technology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumtani 12120, Thailand.
⁵ Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: yuttanant.b@chula.ac.th.

PMID: 27180069
DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.04.006

Abstract

Despite wide usage of electrogalvanized coatings in various applications, characterization studies on their micro/crystal structure, and the understanding of how they correspondingly affect the properties, such as corrosion, are rather limited. This is mainly attributed to some difficulties in preparing and examining the zinc coating layers, owing to their intrinsically low corrosion resistance and refined nano-scaled crystallite size. This study aims to examine such challenges systematically and propose some mitigation strategies. Particularly, sample preparation processes, including surface finishing for metallography and sample thinning processes are explored. Furthermore, a range of electron microscopy techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back scattered diffractometry (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are investigated in relation to the achievable clarity of microstructural details of electrogalvanized coatings.

Keywords: Characterization; Electrochemical polishing; Electrogalvanizing; Electron microscopy; Metallography.