Structure, Oxidation Resistance, Mechanical, and Tribological Properties of N- and C-Doped Ta-Zr-Si-B Hard Protective Coatings Obtained by Reactive D.C. Magnetron Sputtering of TaZrSiB Ceramic Cathode

Abstract

Coatings in the Ta-Zr-Si-B-C-N system were produced by magnetron sputtering of a TaSi2-Ta3B4-(Ta,Zr)B2 ceramic target in the Ar medium and Ar-N2 and Ar-C2H4 gas mixtures. The structure and composition of coatings were studied using scanning electron microscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, energy-dispersion spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Mechanical and tribological properties of coatings were determined using nanoindentation and pin-on-disk tests using 100Cr6 and Al2O3 balls. The oxidation resistance of coatings was evaluated by microscopy and X-ray diffraction after annealing in air at temperatures up to 1200 °C. The reactively-deposited coatings containing from 30% to 40% nitrogen or carbon have the highest hardness up to 29 GPa and elastic recovery up to 78%. Additionally, coatings with a high carbon content demonstrated a low coefficient of friction of 0.2 and no visible signs of wear when tested against 100Cr6 ball. All coatings except for the non-reactive ones can resist oxidation up to a temperature of 1200 °C thanks to the formation of a protective film based on Ta2O5 and SiO2 on their surface. Coatings deposited in Ar-N2 and Ar-C2H4 demonstrated superior resistance to thermal cycling in conditions 20-T−20 °C (where T = 200–1000 °C). The present article compares the structure and properties of reactive and “standard-inert atmosphere” deposited coatings to develop recommendations for optimizing the composition.

Duplex Treatment of AISI 420 Steel by RF-ICP Nitriding and CrAlN Coating Deposition: The Role of Nitriding Duration

“…Indeed, the wear test of the N10 sample ended at the maximum depth corresponding to the interface between the CL and the DZ. The latter is usually characterized by good wear resistance [3,29]. The duplex-treated N20 sample had a specific wear coefficient that was twice as high as that of the previous one.…”

“…where K-sputtering yield, j-ion current density to a substrate (A/µm 2 ), M 2 -molar weight of substrate material (g/mol), N A -Avogadro's number (mol −1 ), ρ-density of substrate material (g/µm 3 ), q e -elemental charge (C). Only argon ions were involved in the calculations of sputtering rates.…”

“…This is due to their good corrosion resistance and low cost. Coating deposition is often used to modify surface properties (corrosion, wear and oxidation resistance, wettability, or other functional parameters) [1][2][3]. However, the critical issue of coating deposition is the adhesion strength of a coating to a substrate material.…”

State-of-the-Art Developments in Advanced Hard Ceramic Coatings Using PVD Techniques for High-Temperature Tribological Applications

“…Continuous Cr2O3 tribofilms were observed at 400 °C , while at 600 °C , continuous Al2O3 and Cr2O3 with a small fraction of discontinuous B2O3/B(OH)3 tribofilms were obtained, and at 800 °C , a stable and continuous B2O3/B(OH)3 tribofilm was formed as a protective layer of the coating from wear. Korneev et al[98] also observed improved mechanical, HT tribological, and oxidation resistance with C and N doping, when they fabricated TaZrSiBCN hard coatings through a sputtering technique.…”

A review of mechanical and tribological properties of Ni3Al-based coatings-synthesis and high-temperature behavior

“…Moreover, they also provide enhanced corrosion and oxidation resistance properties even at high temperatures [46][47][48]. Chromium (Cr), Titanium (Ti), tungsten (W) based binary and ternary alloy and multilayer thin films have shown enhanced hardness of around ∼25-35 GPa whereas they have also reflected good oxidation resistance properties up to ∼500 °C-600 °C [49,50]. It is reported that the mechanical and tribological properties of these coatings are generally rehabilitated by opting appropriate technique of deposition with optimized process parameters, heat treatment processes, impurities, residual stresses, tip geometry and dislocation density of the film [8].…”