Structure, wear and corrosion behaviours of Cr–Al–C and multilayer [Cr–Al–C/a-C]n coatings fabricated by physical vapour deposition and plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition techniques

The structures, wear resistances, and corrosion behaviours of Cr–Al–C and multilayer [Cr–Al–C/a-C]n coatings, fabricated by physical vapour deposition (PVD), plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (PACVD), or their combination, were studied. A CrAl target served as a source of chromium and aluminium, while a graphite target or acetylene served as sources of carbon. Depending on the type of carbon source, Cr–Al–C or Cr–Al–C(H) coatings were obtained. Multilayer [Cr–Al–C/a-C]20 and [Cr–Al–C(H)/a-C:H]20 coatings were fabricated by alternating pair layers of [Cr–Al–C (PVD)/a-C (PVD)] and [Cr–Al–C(H) (PVD–PACVD)/a-C:H (PACVD)], respectively. a-C and a-C:H are hydrogen-free and hydrogenated diamond-like carbons. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were employed to investigate the coating structures. Along with the amorphous matrix, chromium carbide, and CrxAl1-xC nanograins, clusters of nanocrystalline graphite as spherical inclusions and plates, probably of several graphene layers, were observed in Cr–Al–C. This structure provided high hardness and corrosion resistance. Along with the amorphous matrix, Cr2AlC and chromium carbide nanoclusters and clusters of nanoscale CVD diamond with wide boundaries of sp2-bonded carbon were observed in Cr–Al–C(H), whose hardness did not exceed 8.9 GPa. The multilayer structures significantly increased the wear resistances. The specific coefficient of wear rate (SCWR) of [Cr–Al–C/a-C]20 was five times lower than that of Cr–Al–C. Hybrid PVD–PACVD technology provided favourable conditions for the formation of wear-resistant coatings. The SCWR of [Cr–Al–C(H)/a-C:H]20 was 47 times lower than that of [Cr–Al–C/a-C]20. The high wear resistance of the multilayer coatings was associated with the structure, low friction coefficient, high crack resistance, and strengthened interface boundaries. [Display omitted] •Cr-Al-C and multilayer [Cr-Al-C/a-C]n coatings were fabricated•PVD and PACVD techniques were used for coatings deposition•XRD, TEM and Raman spectroscopy were employed to investigate structures•The structure of Cr-Al-C coating depends on deposition technique•Structure, mechanical characteristics, and interfaces have a synergistic effect on properties of multilayer coatings