Sustainability in engineering systems is strongly influenced by corrosion, as material degradation directly affects component lifetime, maintenance requirements, and recyclability. This is particularly critical for aeronautical components, where durability, reliability, and environmental performance are essential. Protective coatings are widely employed to prevent corrosion, with hard chromium (Cr) plating traditionally used in the aeronautical industry due to its excellent mechanical and wear properties. However, increasing environmental and health concerns associated with hard Cr processes have created significant pressure to develop safer and more sustainable alternatives.

In this context, Ni-based coatings have emerged as promising alternatives. Their properties can be tailored either through alloying element additions or by incorporating strengthening particles to enhance mechanical performance. Nevertheless, improvements in mechanical properties often come at the expense of electrochemical performance, as alloying additions or particle incorporation may negatively affect corrosion resistance. Thus, in this work, we investigate the effect of incorporating Sn as an alloying element or ZrO₂ particles as a reinforcing phase on the corrosion behavior of Ni-coated steel in a 3.5% NaCl solution. The objective is to establish a structure–corrosion relationship by correlating microstructural characterization with potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The results indicate that, for Ni–Sn coatings, the Sn content plays a critical role in determining corrosion performance. Similarly, for Ni–ZrO₂ composite coatings, a threshold in particle concentration governs the electrochemical response. These findings provide insight into optimizing Ni-based coatings for enhanced corrosion resistance, contributing to more sustainable surface engineering solutions for aeronautical applications.