Ceramic coating incorporated with nano-SiC was obtained on AZ91D magnesium alloy during MAO by adding nano-SiC into the silicate-aluminate-based composite electrolyte. The microstructure, thickness, phase analysis, element composition and hardness of the coatings were respectively investigated by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, film thickness meter, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, energy disperse spectroscopy（EDS） and Vickers hardness tester. The wear resistance of Mg alloy and coatings were evaluated by friction and wear apparatus, while the corrosion resistance of Mg alloy and coatings were evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS）. The results show that after adding nano-SiC into the electrolyte, both the striking voltage and final voltage decrease, the size and number of the micropore on the surface of the coating decrease, the thickness and hardness of the coating increase, both the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the coating raise.
Microarc oxidation （MAO） process was conducted on AZ91D magnesium alloy in an electrolyte composed of NazSiO3, NaAlO2, NaEB4O7, NaOH, C3H803 and C6H5Na307 by AC pulse electrical source. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies, film thickness, chemical composition and structure of the coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, layer thickness metry, energy disperse spectroscopy（EDS） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）. The corrosiofi resistances of the coatings in a 3.5% NaC1 neutral solution were evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS） and potentiodynamic polarization test. The results showed that an optimized electrolyte with a composition of 15 g/L NazSiO3, 9 g/L NaA102, 2 g/L NazB407, 3 g/L NaOH, 5 mL/L C3H803 and 7 g/LC,HsNa307 was developed by means of orthogonal experiment. The coating obtained in the optimized electrolyte had a dense structure and revealed a lower current density, decreased by two orders of magnitude as compared with the magnesium substrate. Meanwhile, the corrosive potentials of the coated samples increased nearly by 73 inV. EIS result showed that the corrosion resistance of the coating was mainly determined by the inner dense layer. The coating primarily contained elements Mg, Al, O and Si and XRD analyses indicated that the coating was mainly composed of MgO, Mg2SiO4 and MgAl204.
