The Enhancement of Corrosion Resistance for WC-Co by Ion Beam Mixed Silicon Carbide Coating

A strong adhesion of a silicon carbide (SiC) coating on a WC-Co substrate was achieved through an ion beam mixing technique and the corrosion resistance of the SiC coated WC-Co was investigated by means of a potentiodynamic electrochemical test. In the case of 1 M NaOH solution, a corrosion current density for a SiC coated WC-Co with a heat treatment at $500^{\circ}C$ displays about 50 times lower than that for the as-received WC-Co. However, in the case of 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, a corrosion current density for a SiC coated WC-Co displays about 3 times lower than that for as-received WC-Co. We discussed the physical reasons for the changes of the corrosion current densities at the different electrolytes.