Wear-corrosion behavior of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon nitride films on aluminum alloy

Diamond-like carbon films exhibit high hardness, high wear resistance and a low friction coefficient. They are extensively utilized in the mechanical, electronic and biomedical industries. This work evaluates the effect of the thickness of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon nitride films on their corrosion properties and their wear-corrosion resistance in a mixed 1 M NaCl + 1 M H₂SO₄ solution using electrochemical methods. The corrosion current density and weight loss of all films during and after wear-corrosion test are also recorded. This work employs ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) to deposit DLC nitride films of various thicknesses (1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 nm), containing 60% nitrogen gas in the form of a gaseous mixture of C₂H₂ + 60%N₂. The thickness of the films was measured using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The atomic bonding structures of these DLC nitride films are analyzed using a Raman spectrometer and by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was adopted to elucidate the surface morphologies of the specimens after corrosion and wear-corrosion. The results indicated that all of the nitrogen-containing DLC films excellently protected the 5088 Al–Mg alloy substrate with an electroless plated Ni–P interlayer against corrosion, and that the degree of protection increases with the thickness of the film. In the wear-corrosion tests various potentials were applied during wear in the particular corrosive solution. The results further demonstrated that the wear-corrosion resistance of all the nitrogen-containing DLC films was as effective as corrosion protection, and that the wear-corrosion loss decreased as the film thickness increased.