Congratulation letter sent by Elsevier

The paper entitled “Mechanical properties and wear and corrosion resistance of electrodeposited Ni-Co/SiC nanocomposite coating” (2006, 252:3591-3599) published in Applied Surface Science by the space lubricating materials group of the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubricating at Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics of the CAS has been awarded the most cited article of Applied Surface Science from 2006 to 2010. Elsevier has sent a congratulation letter to the research group.

In their paper, researchers reported the preparation of Ni–Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings with various contents of SiC nano-particulates by electrodeposition in a Ni–Co plating bath containing SiC nano-particulates to be co-deposited. The influence of deposition conditions on the structure and properties of the Ni–Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings has been systematically investigated. It is found that the incorporation of the SiC nano-particulates leads to the changes in the morphology, microhardness and wear resistance of the nanocomposite coatings as compared to the Ni–Co alloy coating. The Ni–Co/SiC nanocomposite coatings have higher microhardness and better wear resistance than the Ni–Co alloy coating, which is attributed to the grain-fining and dispersive strengthening effects of the codeposited hard SiC nano-particulates.

The work has opened a new way for the application of alloy magnetic materials under corrosive and abrasive environment. It has received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The research group has long been interested in the preparation of high performance solid lubricating coatings and investigation on their friction and wear properties.

Applied Surface Science, an important journal in the field of surface science and technology, covers topics contributing to a better understanding of applications of surfaces, interfaces, and nanostructures. The journal is concerned with scientific research on the atomic and molecular level of material properties, determined with multiple surface analytical techniques, as well as the processing and application of such structures.

Applied Surface Science (Applied Surface Science 252 (2006) 3591–3599) Paper