Nanostructured molybdenum nitride-based coatings: Effect of nitrogen concentration on microstructure and mechanical properties

Authors

Jian Wang
Paul Munroe
Zhifeng Zhou
Zonghan Xie, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Thin Solid Films

Publisher

Elsevier BV

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

31220

Grant Number

ARC Number : DP150102417

Grant Link

http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102417

Comments

Wang, J., Munroe, P., Zhou, Z., & Xie, Z. (2019). Nanostructured molybdenum nitride-based coatings: Effect of nitrogen concentration on microstructure and mechanical properties. Thin Solid Films, 682, 82-92. Available here

Abstract

Molybdenum nitride (MoN_x) coatings were deposited onto AISI M2 tool steel substrates (hardened to HRC 60) by magnetron sputtering. The nitrogen content was controlled by means of a closed-loop optical emission monitor. The coating microstructure was examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. This showed that the increased nitrogen content led to a transformation from body-centered cubic α-Mo phase to γ-Mo₂N phase (NaCl-B1 type) and then to a face-centered cubic MoN phase. The mechanical and tribological properties of these coatings were evaluated by nano-indentation, wear and scratch testing. The γ-Mo₂N coating showed the highest hardness and the highest values of H (hardness)/E* (effective elastic modulus) and H³/E* ratio. During scratch and wear tests, the γ-Mo₂N coating exhibited the best resistance to deformation and the lowest wear rate.

DOI

10.1016/j.tsf.2019.05.011

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