Microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of magnetron sputtered VCN films

Abstract

VCN films with various carbon contents were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The elemental compositions, microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM), nanoindentation and friction and wear test. The results showed that the microstructure, mechanical properties and tribological properties of VCN films were influenced by the variation of the carbon content. The VCN films exhibited a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure. By increasing of carbon content of the film, the grain size of VCN films decreases gradually. The hardness of the films first increased and then decreased with increasing carbon content, after reaching the maximum values of 28.1 GPa, at 16.89 at.-% carbon. The average friction coefficient and wear rate decreased with the increasing carbon content at room temperature.

Evolution of microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of vanadium carbonitride coatings sputtered at different nitrogen partial pressures

“…Vanadium carbonitride (V-C-N) is a ternary compound that combines the excellent chemical and wear resistance of VeN [18] and VeC [9], respectively. For these reasons, many researchers are interested in the ternary vanadium based compounds combining nitrides and carbides to improve film crystallization and its performance [19,20]. Their purpose was to establish the relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties of vanadium carbonitride.…”

“…The hardness of V-C-N films reached 3380 HV 0.05 , being higher than that of binary VN (2970 HV 0.05 ) and VC (2770 HV 0.05 ) films, due to the formation of solid solution strengthening. However, limited reports are available about the effects of nitrogen on the structural, mechanical, and tribological properties of V-C-N [18][19][20].…”

“…Yu et al [20] have studied the V-C-N films elaborated by magnetron sputtering using vanadium and carbon targets and a mixture of reactive AreN 2 gas. They investigated the influence of carbon content on the film structure.…”

“…The influence of different (C + N)/V ratios on structure, mechanical properties and wear resistance of V-C-N coatings was comprehensively investigated. Previous reports on sputtered V-C-N coatings discussed either the microstructure and mechanical properties with different nitrogen content [18] or the influence of the V/(C + N) ratio on the mechanical and tribological behaviour without understanding the chemical bonding structure [20].…”

Influence of Cu Content on the Structure, Mechanical, Friction and Wear Properties of VCN–Cu Films

“…Vanadium nitride (VN) films are a good alternative for their more common TiN, ZrN, and CrN counterparts [6][7][8][9], due to enhanced selflubricating ability [10]. In our previous study [11], a series of VCN films with different carbon content were deposited onto a Si substrate using the reactive magnetron sputtering method. The mechanical and room temperature tribological properties of VN-based films can be improved greatly by doping with carbon.…”