Ti(C, N, O) Nanocomposite Films Fabricated by Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc Using CO 2 and N 2 as Precursors

Abstract Ti(C,N,O) films were deposited on Si(100) and 304 stainless steel by Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc (FCVA) using CO2 and N2 (with ratio of 1:1) as precursors. The effect of gas flow rate on the composition, phase structure and properties of films was investigated by XPS, XRD, Raman, SEM, tribological test and electrochemical workstation. Results show that the contents of C and N increase obviously, while contents of O and Ti decrease slightly as the gas flow rate increases from 10 mL/min to 50 mL/min. The contents of C and N decrease, while content of Ti increases slightly and content of O increases dramatically as the gas flow rates from 50 mL/min to 80 mL/min. The phase structure of Ti(C, N, O) films transformes from nc-Ti(C, N, O) nanocrystal structure to nc-Ti(C,N,O)/a-CNx nanocomposite structure, a-TiO2/a-CNx and N-doped a-TiO2/a-C nanocomposite structure with gas flow rate increasing from 10 mL/min to 80 mL/min. The N-doped a-TiO2/a-C nanocomposite showed the lowest friction coefficient. Both nc-Ti(C, N, O)/a-CNx nanocomposite structure and N-doped a-TiO2/a-C nanocomposite structure show good anticorrosion ability in Hanks balance solution.