Achieving High Tribological Performance of Graphite-like Carbon Coatings on Ti6Al4V in Aqueous Environments by Gradient Interface Design

A duplex treatment involving nitrogen ion pre-implantation and gradient interfacial transition was performed to obtain a high-performance graphite-like carbon (GLC) coating on a Ti6Al4V alloy. Characteristics of the as-deposited coating systems were systemically investigated by Raman spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, nano-indentation, and scratch tests. The friction and wear behaviors in distilled water and sea water environments were evaluated by a ball-on-disk tribometer. The results showed that the GLC multilayer coating on nitrogen ion-implanted Ti6Al4V possessed a greater hardness and adhesion strength than to that on un-implanted Ti6Al4V. The tribological performances of these duplex process systems showed a great improvement in both the distilled water and sea water environments. In particular, the Cr/CrN/GLC coatings on nitrogen ion-implanted substrates demonstrated the best friction and wear behaviors. These striking improvements were attributed to the greatly enhanced interface strength between substrate and coating by the nitrogen ion implantation process and improved adhesion strength between gradient layers by the appropriate gradient interlayers with a similar thermal expansion coefficient.