The electrolytic Ni-Cu based alloy coating with admixed interfacial blend of Mg have been successfully prepared on mild steel substrate by dual anode electroplating processes over a range of applied current density and dwell time. The electrocodeposition of Ni-Cu-Mg coating was investigated in the presence of other bath additives. The influence of deposition current on surface morphology, adhesion behavior, preferred crystal orientation, surface topography and electrochemical activity of Ni-Cu-Mg alloy coating on mild steel were systematically examined. The thermal stability of the developed composite materials was examined via isothermal treatment. Scanning electron microscope equipped with EDS, X-ray diffraction, Atomic force microscope, micro-hardness tester and 3 mu metrohm Potentiostat/galvanostat were used to compare untreated and isothermally treated electrocodeposited composite. The induced activity of the Ni-Cu-Mg alloy changed the surface modification and results to crystal precipitation within the structural interface by the formation of Cu, Ni2Mg3 phase. The obtained results showed that the introduction of Mg particles in the plating bath generally modified the surface and brings an increase in the hardness and corrosion resistance of Ni-Cu-Mg layers fabricated. Equally, isothermally treated composites demonstrated an improved properties indicating 45% increase in the micro-hardness and 79.6% corrosion resistance which further showed that the developed composite is thermally stable. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.