Composite Materials with Nanoscale Multilayer Architecture Based on Cathodic-Arc Evaporated WN/NbN Coatings

Abstract

Hard nitride coatings are commonly employed to protect components subjected to friction, whereby such coatings should possess excellent tribomechanical properties in order to endure high stresses and temperatures. In this study, WN/NbN coatings are synthesized by using the cathodic-arc evaporation (CA-PVD) technique at various negative bias voltages in the 50–200 V range. The phase composition, microstructural features, and tribomechanical properties of the multilayers are comprehensively studied. Fabricated coatings have a complex structure of three nanocrystalline phases: β-W2N, δ-NbN, and ε-NbN. They demonstrate a tendency for (111)-oriented grains to overgrow (200)-oriented grains with increasing coating thickness. All of the data show that a decrease in the fraction of ε-NbN phase and formation of the (111)-textured grains positively impact mechanical properties and wear behavior. Investigation of the room-temperature tribological properties reveals that with an increase in bias voltage from −50 to −200 V, the wear mechanisms change as follows: oxidative → fatigue and oxidative → adhesive and oxidative. Furthermore, WN/NbN coatings demonstrate a high hardness of 33.6–36.6 GPa and a low specific wear rate of (1.9–4.1) × 10–6 mm3/Nm. These results indicate that synthesized multilayers hold promise for tribological applications as wear-resistant coatings.