Electrodeposition of Photocatalytic Sn–Ni Matrix Composite Coatings Embedded with Doped TiO2 Particles

Direct current electrodeposited Sn–Ni/TiO2 nanostructured coatings were produced by embedding two different doped types of TiO2 particles within the alloy matrix, a commercially available doped carbon-based and doped N,S-TiO2 particles. The structural characteristics of the composite coatings have been correlated with the effect of loading, type of particles in the electrolytic bath, and the applied current density. Regardless of the type of doped particles TiO2, increasing values of applied current density resulted in a reduction of the co-deposition percentage of TiO2 particles and an increase of Tin content into the alloy matrix. The application of low current density values accompanied by a high load of particles in the bath led to the highest codeposition percentage (~3.25 wt.%) achieved in the case of embedding N,S-TiO2 particles. X-ray diffraction data demonstrated that in composite coatings the incorporation of the different types of TiO2 particles in the alloy metal matrix modified significantly the nano-crystalline structure in comparison with the pure coatings. The best photocatalytic behavior under visible irradiation was revealed for the composite coatings with the highest co-deposition percentage of doped N,S-TiO2 particles, that also exhibited enhanced wear resistance and slightly reduced microhardness compared to pure ones.