Corrosion and tribological behaviour in a 3.5% NaCl solution of vacuum arc deposited ZrCN and Zr–Cr–Si–C–N coatings

Abstract

ZrCN and Zr–Cr–Si–C–N coatings were deposited on Si (100) and 316L stainless steel substrates using the cathodic vacuum arc technique in a mixed atmosphere of C2H2 and N2. The coatings were grown keeping almost constant the ratio of the C2H2 and N2 mass flow rates, substrate bias and deposition temperature at ∼0.81, −200 V and 320 ℃, respectively. The investigation carried out aimed to determine the corrosion and tribological performance of the novel Zr–Cr–Si–C–N coating obtained by Cr and Si addition to the ZrCN reference coating. The films were characterized in terms of elemental and phase composition, crystalline structure, hardness, reduced elastic modulus and adhesion. Particular attention was devoted to the investigation of coatings' corrosion resistance and tribological performance carried out in a 3.5% NaCl solution. Cr and Si addition to ZrCN coating leads to reduction in film crystallinity, finer microstructure, enhanced corrosion resistance and better tribological performance under corrosive testing conditions. In this paper, we discuss the measured mechanical and tribological properties of the two coatings in terms of various ratios of hardness and reduced elastic modulus. The coated samples exhibited high corrosion protection efficiency, reaching 97.8% for the Zr–Cr–Si–C–N coating. Both coatings improved the tribological performance of 316L steel in the saline solution. Specifically, the addition of Cr and Si into ZrCN coating results in a decrease of the wear rate of about 60%.

Multifunctional Ti based carbonitride coatings for applications in severe environments

“…8.8 at.%. It can also be seen that, as intended, the (C+N)/(metal+Si) ratio was in the range TiNbCN coatings [33]. This increase may be ascribed to the lattice distortion as a result of adding Si into the coating matrix.…”

“…The coatings were deposited in a mixture of CH 4 and N 2 reactive gases, using a cathodic arc system, equipped with two cathodes made of Zr (99.99% purity) and Ti85 at.%-Nb15 at.% or Ti88 at.%-Si12 at.%, respectively. Details of the deposition system may be found in [43]. The targets were supplied by Cathay Advanced Materials Limited, Guangdong, China.…”

Improvement of CoCr Alloy Characteristics by Ti-Based Carbonitride Coatings Used in Orthopedic Applications

“…The coatings were prepared using both CH 4 and N 2 as reactive gases (99.999% purity, Linde). The position of each cathode inside the deposition chamber was the same as those described in [33]. In order to guarantee the uniform thickness of the coatings, the substrate holder was rotated by 15 rot/min.…”

“…For medical applications, however, they have not yet been tested. Nevertheless, an alternative solution was the addition of Zr and Cr to the Si-N and Si-C-N matrix for severe wear and corrosive applications [33].…”

Effect of carbon content on structural, mechanical and tribological properties of Cr-V-C-N coatings

“…Furthermore, recent work performed by L.R. Constantin et al [18] presented a correlation between the structures, tribological properties and corrosion of Zr-Cr-Si-C-N coatings. They showed that the improvement of microstructure by the formation of carbides, as well as friction, wear and anti-corrosive performance of Zr-C-N and Zr-Cr-Si-C-N coatings was achieved by the presence of C-Metal, N-Metal, C-C and N-C chemical bonds.…”