Elevated-temperature dry sliding wear behaviors of dual-cathode HiPIMS TiN and TiZrN films

Titanium–zirconium nitride films with three Zr/Ti ratios (16/35, 22/29, and 25/26) were deposited using Ti and Zr dual-cathode reactive high-power impulse closed-field magnetron sputtering by adjusting the average power ratio of two cathode materials. The sliding wear resistances of the obtained TiZrN films at different temperatures were compared. The results revealed that the ternary TiZrN film exhibited a higher hardness (approximately 35 GPa) and lower elastic modulus (approximately 360–380 GPa) than those of the binary TiN film. This contributed to the lower friction coefficient and wear resistance at room temperature. However, the addition of Zr became disadvantageous with an increase in wear temperature. Above 400°C, the surface hardness of the TiZrN film decreased dramatically with an increase in the Zr fraction. This is attributed to the increased vulnerability of the film to oxidation. Structural discontinuity induced by the inhomogeneous oxidation (a multilayer structure with voids, embedded oxides, and oxynitrides formed in the surface layer) roughened the film surface and reduced the surface strength, which accelerated the wear of TiZrN films at elevated temperature in an ambient atmosphere. Such ternary nitride coatings should not be applied in oxidative high temperature environments without obstructing the oxidation through designed composition and structure.