Multilayer interfaces to achieve excellent corrosion and tribological performances for CrAlCN nanocomposite coating in the seawater

• Published in: Materials chemistry and physics 2023-06, Vol.301, p.127689, Article 127689
• Main Authors: Zhou, Shengguo, Qin, Bingdong, Wang, Shuncai, Xia, Bin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Corrosion; Cr/CrAlCN; Multilayer; Seawater; Tribolgical
• ISSN: 0254-0584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2023.127689

Electrochemical corrosion and wear frequently rise some fatal failures of metallic components in the seawater, so it is of significance to explore a protective coating for them. In this study, the multilayer interfacial Cr/CrAlCN nanocomposite coating is successfully fabricated by the multi-arc ion technique, and its microstructures, corrosion and tribological performances are investigated systematically. Results show that as-prepared Cr/CrAlCN multilayer coating with an alternating multi-interfacial microstructure efficiently prevents from the growth of columnar crystals so as to enhance its compactness, and especially it exhibits much higher hardness (32.5 GPa) and elastic modulus (327.8 GPa), better toughness and adhesion strength (24.1 N) compared to CrAlCN monolayer coating. Also, this multi-interfacial design profitably reduces the porosities and forms an interval labyrinth effect, which effectively blocks the corrosive mediums. As a result, this Cr/CrAlCN nanocomposite coating achieves excellent anti-corrosion (Icorr: 6.3 × 10−6 A/cm2) and tribological performances (seawater wear rate of 3.5 × 10−6 mm3 N−1 m−1), which demonstrates its promising application as a protective coating in the seawater. [Display omitted] •Multi-interfacial Cr/CrAlCN coating was successfully constructed by alternate Cr and CrAlCN layers.•Multilayer Cr/CrAlCN coating could possess compact structure and high hardness as well as adhesion strength.•Interfacial effective Cr/CrAlCN coating could achieve excellent anti-corrosion and tribology in the seawater.