Preparation, corrosion and structural properties of Cu–Ni multilayers from sulphate/citrate bath

Potentiostatic electrodeposition was used to produce Cu–Ni multilayer by two-wave pulse plating technique from sulphate/citrate electrolyte at pH 4. Cyclic voltammetry studies provide information about the deposition potential. The compositions of multilayers were studied using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Electrochemical corrosion studies of the deposited multilayer on copper were studied by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The surface of the layer having smooth, small grain and compact structure was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The face centered cubic lattices are present in the Ni–Cu multilayer and this is confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. The multilayer structures have better corrosion resistance than the base substrate