Effect of Dextrin and Thiourea Additives on the Zinc Electroplated Mild Steel in Acid Chloride Solution

The performance effects of thiourea and dextrin as addition agents on the electroplating of zinc on mild steel in acid chloride solution were experimentally investigated. The experiments were performed under different additive concentrations, different plating time and fixed pH conditions. The zinc electroplating on mild steel was performed using a DC – supply at defined operating parameters. The surface of the plated steel was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology; and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) for surface elemental composition analysis. Different surface characteristics were obtained depending upon the concentration of the additive and the plating time. The corrosion resistance of the plated surface was determined by gravimetric method. The quality of the electro-deposition of zinc was good as indicated by the microstructural feature of the plated surface. The electrodeposition process was sensitive to changes in additive concentration and plating time. Variations in the plating parameters produced entirely new and different surface morphology