Effects of Duty Cycle on Nanostructured TiN Coatings on AISI H11 and AISI D2 Steels

• Published in: Journal of bio- and tribo-corrosion 2024, Vol.10 (3), Article 52
• Main Authors: Mirzaee-Sisan, Mohsen, Khorsand, Hamid, Siadati, M. Hossein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atomic force microscopy; Biomaterials; Chemical composition; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chlorine; Chromium molybdenum vanadium steels; Coatings; Corrosion; Corrosion and Coatings; Corrosion effects; Corrosion rate; Corrosion resistance; Hardness; Materials Science; Microscopy; Nanostructure; Scanning electron microscopy; Solid Mechanics; Surface properties; Surface roughness; Thin films; Titanium nitride; Tool steels; Tribology; Vapors; X-ray diffraction; X-ray spectroscopy
• ISSN: 2198-4220; 2198-4239
• DOI: 10.1007/s40735-024-00856-y

This study focuses on the effects of duty cycle on morphology, hardness, structure, corrosion resistance, and chemical composition of nanostructured titanium nitride (TiN) coatings deposited by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) on two tool steels AISI H11 hot work and AISI D2 cold work. The PACVD was performed at 475 °C for 2 h in a chamber containing Ar, N 2 , and H 2 gases along with TiCl 4 vapor at a pressure of 2 mbar, for various duty cycles of 33, 50 and 60%. The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, hardness, and potentiodynamic polarization. The results indicated that the surface roughness and corrosion rate at the 33% duty cycle were lower than those of the other two cycles. It was also revealed that the finer grains formed at the lower-duty cycles played an important role in lowering the corrosion rate. Also, thin films deposited at lower-duty cycles had higher hardness. The higher chlorine content in the lower-duty cycles did not affect the surface properties of the nanostructured TiN coatings.