Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of the AlTiN Coating Deposited by Arc Ion Plating

doi:10.1007/s40195-016-0497-8

Abstract

Abstract:

A new type of AlTiN coating containing about 29.13 at.% Al,16.02 at.% Ti and 54.85 at.% N was prepared by arc ion plating technology. The coating is composed of singular fcc-(Al, Ti)N phase and has no hcp-AlN phase to be formed. Due to the high content of beneficial element Al, the hardness and effective elastic modulus of the coating are up to 33.9 and 486.1 GPa, respectively. The adhesion strength between the coating and substrate is about 39.7 N. Electrochemical test shows that the corrosion current density of the AlTiN coating is nearly one-sixth of the substrate, and the charge transfer resistance Rct of the AlTiN coating is much larger than that of the substrate, which means that the coating could act as a protective barrier between the substrate and corrosive electrolyte, enhancing the corrosion resistance.

Key words: Arc ion plating, AlTiN coating, Corrosion behavior, Microstructure, Hardness

Qi-Xiang Fan,Tie-Gang Wang,Yan-Mei Liu,Zheng-Huan Wu,Tao Zhang,Tong Li,Zu-Bing Yang. Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of the AlTiN Coating Deposited by Arc Ion Plating[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2016, 29(12): 1119-1126.

Figures/Tables 12

Table 1 Deposition parameters of the AlTiN coating by arc ion plating technology

Parameters	Value
Base pressure (Pa)	5 × 10^-4
Working pressure (Pa)	2
Bias voltage (V)	-60
Ar flow (sccm)	50-100
N₂ flow (sccm)	300-400
Deposition temperature (°C)	400
Deposition time (min)	90
Arc current of Ti target (A)	50-100
Arc current of Al target (A)	50-100
Distance between the substrate and target (mm)	120

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of the AlTiN coating deposited by arc ion plating technology

Fig. 2 Surface morphologies of the AlTiN coating deposited by arc ion plating technology

Table 2 Elemental compositions of four different points (A, B, C, D) and one selected area (E) on the surface of the AlTiN coating

Position	Al (at.%)	Ti (at.%)	N (at.%)	Al/(Al + Ti) (x)
A	28.35	15.37	56.26	0.648
B	25.20	15.13	59.68	0.625
C	32.71	18.87	48.42	0.634
D	29.80	15.04	55.16	0.665
E	29.13	16.02	54.85	0.645

Fig. 3 Cross-sectional morphology of the AlTiN coating deposited by arc ion plating technology

Fig. 4 Hardness versus displacement a and modulus versus displacement and b of the AlTiN coating measured by nano-indenter tester

Fig. 5 Morphology of scratch track of the AlTiN coating observed by optical microscopy

Fig. 6 Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the substrate and AlTiN coating in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Fig. 7 Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the substrate and AlTiN coating in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Fig. 8 Bode and phase diagram of the substrate and AlTiN coating in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Fig. 9 Equivalent electrical circuit for the EIS data of the substrate a and AlTiN coating b corroded in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Table 3 Parameters extracted from the EIS data of the substrate and AlTiN coating corroded in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Sample	R_s (Ω cm²)	Q_coat - Y_o (μF/cm²)	n_c	R_pore (Ω cm²)	Q_dl - Y_o (μF/cm²)	n_dl	R_ct (Ω cm²)
Substrate	8.046	-	-	-	6.358 × 10^-4	0.7779	2633
AlTiN	8.68	5.43 × 10^-5	0.8833	8536	2.93 × 10^-4	0.612	1.22 × 10⁴

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