Enhancement of sp3 C Fraction in Diamond-like Carbon Coatings by Cryogenic Treatment
Source abstract
Abstract
Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings deposited onto high-speed-steel surfaces were subjected to deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) at temperatures of −120 to −196 °C to investigate the evolution of microstructure, bonding structure, and mechanical properties. The surface morphology and the bonding structure of the DLC coatings were studied using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that DCT affects the surface morphology, especially the size and the height of the aggregates. For those DLCs with more than 50% sp3 C fraction, the sp2 C → sp3 C transformation occurred in coatings treated at a temperature of −120 to −160 °C; and the maximum fraction of sp3 C was obtained after treatment at −140 °C. Almost keeping the wear resistance of DLCs, DCT can improve the adhesion strength, and surface hardness. The findings of this study indicate that DCT will be a potential post-treatment method to tune the microstructure and mechanical performance of DLC coatings.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research · Metal and Thin Film Mechanics · Tribology and Wear Analysis
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Funding
Guangzhou Science, Technology and Innovation Commission
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