Efficient Synthesis of Titanium Nitride Coatings on Stainless Steel via Gas Nitriding of Sputtered Titanium
摘要
To enhance the properties of metallic components, a new hybrid surface engineering approach was investigated. A thin titanium layer was first deposited on pure iron and 316L stainless steel by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and subsequently nitrided. The nitriding treatment was performed under low-pressure pure nitrogen. The structural evolution of the treated samples was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) with particular attention to diffusion kinetics and phase formation at the interface. Mechanical performances of the hybrid-treated substrates were assessed by nanoindentation. The diffusion mechanism that occurred during the nitriding process was analyzed and explained. The Ti coating was successfully nitrided to form a TiN layer at the top of both substrates with a hardness of 11.2 GPa.