High temperature oxidation of a (Cr2N?Mo2S3)/Cr double-layered coating deposited on steel by D.C. magnetron sputtering

A coating consisting of (Cr₂N−Mo₂S₃) overlay coating and an underlying Cr coating was deposited on a steel substrate by D.C. magnetron sputtering. The oxidation characteristics of the deposited double-layered coating were studied at temperatures ranging from 400 to 900 °C in air. The oxidation product was primarily Cr₂O₃. The unreacted coating beneath the oxide scale had some dissolved oxygen, sulfur, and iron. Oxidation of the coating occurred via complex routes such as the outward diffusion of chromium and nitrogen from Cr₂N and iron from the substrate, and the inward transport of oxygen from air, chromium from Cr₂N, and S from Mo₂S₃. This counter diffusion of various ions occurred easily via fine crystallites that constituted the coating, which had some solubility of S, O, and Fe.