A Comparative Study of Electrochemical Corrosion and Tribocorrosion Behavior of Pvd Crn, Craln, and Crcun Coatings

Abstract

The present study reports the corrosion and tribocorrosion behavior of CrN, CrAlN, and CrCuN coatings fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering on steel. The effects of doping Al and Cu on the microstructure, corrosion inhibition, and tribocorrosion behavior of CrN coatings were investigated. Compared with the CrN coating, the CrAlN coating exhibits the interrupted columnar crystal structure, presenting the densest structure with the largest hardness of 23.8 GPa. However, there is no improvement in the density of the columnar crystal structure of the CrN coatings after doping with Cu, where Cu presents as monomers. Thus, the CrAlN coating exhibits superior corrosion and tribocorrosion protection compared to CrCuN and CrN. In contrast, the Cu monomers in the CrCuN coating will accelerate the electron exchange rate of the corrosive medium, thus worsening the corrosion of the coating.

Keywords: CrN, CrAlN, CrCuN, Corrosion, tribocorrosion