Tribocorrosion behaviors of superhard yet tough Ti-C-N ceramic coatings

• Published in: Surface & coatings technology Vol. 439; p. 128448
• Main Authors: Ou, Y.X., Wang, H.Q., Hua, Q.S., Liao, B., Ouyang, X.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.06.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Aqueous solutions; Ceramic coatings; Ceramics; Coefficient of friction; Corrosion resistance; Corrosive wear; Crack initiation; Crack propagation; High power impulse magnetron sputtering; Magnetron sputtering; Marine engineering; Marine environment; Pitting (corrosion); Pitting (wear); Protective coatings; Seawater; Seawater lubrication; Superhard and tough; Ti-C-N coatings; Titanium carbide; Tribocorrosion; Wear resistance; High power impulse magnetron sputtering; Tribocorrosion; Ti-C-N coatings; Superhard and tough; Seawater lubrication
• ISSN: 0257-8972; 1879-3347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2022.128448

Ceramic materials are widely used as protective coatings for marine engineering components in seawater environments due to their high wear and corrosion resistance. However, the applications and lifetimes of these materials have been always limited by the high brittleness of ceramic coatings. Hence, in this work, we report superhard yet tough Ti-C-N coatings with mixed TiC and TiN phases deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering. Ti-C-N coatings exhibit a simultaneous superhardness of 40.2 GPa and favorable toughness due to fully dense microstructure and smooth surface morphology. These superhard yet tough Ti-C-N coatings show excellent seawater-lubricating behaviors with an extremely low friction coefficient of 0.03 and mild wear track in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution. The enhanced tribocorrosion performance is attributed to the increased resistance to crack initiation and propagation, restraining the synergistic actions of wear and pitting corrosion. •TiCN coatings with mixed TiC and TiN phases are deposited by HiPIMS.•TiCN coatings exhibit simultaneous superhardness of 40.2 GPa and favorable toughness.•Superhard yet tough coatings show excellent tribocorrosion performance.•The coatings show seawater-lubricating behaviors with low friction coefficient of 0.03.