Study of the electrophoretic deposition copper–carbon nanotubes composite coatings in deep eutectic solvent using a Taguchi experimental design approach

Abstract

The present work discusses the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of copper–carbon nanotubes (Cu–CNTs) composite coatings in a Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) media, using a non-symmetric deposition process. A Taguchi experimental design is implemented in order to assess the effect of the different parameters on the microstructural characteristics of the coatings. The analysis of the design of experiments (DOE) is performed with the signal to noise (S/N) ratio and the analysis of variance. The results clearly reveal that the time of deposition is the most influential parameter on crystallite size, whereas the asymmetric factor has the highest effect on the preferential deposition of Cu or C and thus on the chemical composition. It is therefore concluded that by changing some of the parameters, EPD can be implemented to develop nanostructured composite coating having a desired crystallite size and morphology.