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Transparent flexible barrier coatings consisting of a copolymer of 2‐isocyanatoethyl methacrylate and 4‐aminostyrene were fabricated using a facile vapor‐based initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) method. The isocyanate and amino groups were well reserved during deposition and reacted on the substrate surface, inducing self‐crosslinking. The resultant coating showed a fairly smooth pinhole‐free surface with more than 99% light transmittance across the visible range. With a proper compositional ratio, the synthesized coating demonstrated oxygen permeability 26 and 8 times lower than commercial PET and PVDF barrier films, respectively. The achieved barrier performance is attributed to the designed molecular structure, where interchain crosslinks are produced between a combination of both rigid and flexible side chains. Such combination enabled efficient packing of space while avoiding loose structures with low permeation resistance. The crosslinked network with rather flexible urea linkages also imparted excellent mechanical strength and high flexibility to the coating. Furthermore, the reported method is compatible with current industrial manufacturing process, thus expecting great potential in flexible electronics encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, TiN, TiN-Ag and TiN-Cu coatings were prepared by multi-arc ion plating. TiO 2 nanotube arrays were constructed on the coatings by anodization reaction at room temperature. Building TiO 2 nanotube arrays on the coating can retain the performance of the hard coating itself and reduce the process of destroying the structure of the TiO 2 nanotubes. Non-metallic N doping and co-doping of metallic Ag, Cu and non-metallic N make the nanotubes catalyzed by visible light. The specific surface area of TiO 2 by changed the anodizing voltage. The results show that the anodic oxidation voltage is 15V and Cu, N co-doped TiO 2 photocatalytic degradation performance is the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the performance requirements in harsh marine service environment, developing coatings with excellent trbibocorrosion performance is necessary. Herein, TiSiCN/nitride duplex treatment coatings are prepared by gas nitriding and multi-arc ion plating in turn in this work. The hardness and density are enhanced by nitriding treatment. Duplex treatment coatings exhibit more excellent mechanical properties possessing the maximum hardness values (33 GPa) and exceptional load bearing capacity (88 N) compared to TiSiCN coating. Meanwhile, the effect of wear on corrosion is significant and the action of corrosion determines the total degree of synergy in tribocorrosion system. Furthermore, the friction coefficient is greatly reduced through duplex treatment coatings during tribocorrosion test due to the good resistance to the seawater and the graphitization effect produced by TiSiCN layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-layer and multi-layer Cr/Cr x N coatings were fabricated on 316 L stainless steel (316 L SS) substrates by the arc ion plating technique. The two-layer Cr/Cr x N coating was a typical CrN coating with an adhesive Cr layer. And the multi-layer Cr/Cr x N coating design was in two dimensions. In the first dimension, the multi-layer Cr/Cr x N coating consisted of alternative Cr/CrN layers with the thickness ratio of 1:5; in the second dimension, the alternative Cr 2 N layers with the thickness of 10 nm were inserted in CrN layers. This design was expected to increase transverse interfaces in a smaller scale. The microstructures, mechanical, corrosion and tribocorrosion performances of both Cr/Cr x N coatings were systematically investigated. The results showed that the special multi-layer design of Cr/Cr x N coatings improved mechanical, anti-corrosion and anti -tribocorrosion performances. Compared with the two-layer Cr/Cr x N coating, the reduced tribocorrosion damage of the muti-layer Cr/Cr x N coating was closely related to the inhibited synergistic effect between electrochemical corrosion and mechanical wear. In conclusion, the multi-layer Cr/Cr x N coating was more suitable to work as the surface protective coating than the two-layer Cr/Cr x N coating in seawater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hard amorphous carbon (a-C) was in-situ grown on soft polycarbonate (PC). • Mechanical and tribological properties of PC were improved by in-situ grown a-C. • The in-situ transition layer endowed the strong adhesion of a-C on PC substrates. • Scaly protection with cracking but no peeling of the in-situ grown a-C was revealed. Pure amorphous carbon (a-C) coating, chromium doped amorphous carbon (a-C/Cr) coating and silicon doped amorphous carbon (a-C/Si) coating were synthesized on Polycarbonate (PC) plastic substrates by continuous treatment of different plasma combinations. Microstructures, mechanical properties and tribological behaviors of the as-presented coatings were systematically investigated. As a result, the in-situ growth mechanisms were demonstrated for all of these carbonaceous coatings. This in-situ growth meant an in-situ transformation from the polymer structure into inorganic structure from the surface or subsurface of the substrate followed by an epitaxial growth on the transformed inorganic layer. Cr and Si dopant generated a bulky microstructure, leading to a higher density of in-situ grown a-C/Cr and a-C/Si coatings than the a-C coating on PC substrates. The hardness and elastic modulus of PC substrate were significantly improved by these in-situ grown carbonaceous coatings. Pure a-C coating showed the best protective effect on PC substrate under sliding-friction condition, with scaly protection mechanism, among these different coatings. The fundamental for good protective effect of pure a-C coating on PC was the in-situ growth mechanism, which endowed reliable adhesion of hard a-C coating on soft PC substrate even if there were cracks under sliding condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiSiCN/ZrN coating and TiSiCN/ZrCN coating were prepared using multi-arc ion plating technology. In this work, the composition, mechanical properties and wear properties at elevated temperatures of both coatings were investigated. XRD results show that both coatings are composed of Ti, Zr (C, N) phases. At elevated temperatures, TiSiCN/ZrCN coating exhibits a lower friction coefficient and slightly higher wear rate compared to TiSiCN/ZrN coating. The result is that the introduction of C plays the role of lubrication and friction reduction effect, but the more content carbon leads to increased brittleness of the coating, and cracks are prone to occur and propagate under the effect of thermal and mechanical coupling, thereby causing the wear rate of the coating increased. The increased brittleness of TiSiCN/ZrCN coating is confirmed via mechanical properties. Under high temperature wear, a thin oxide layer formed on both coatings surface acts as a glaze to impede wear and it would break down to form a transfer layer under period force. At 500 °C, TiSiCN/ZrN coating and TiSiCN/ZrCN coating display the mechanisms of adhesive wear and abrasive wear, respectively. • Tribology properties of TiSiCN/Zr(C)N coatings at elevated temperatures were tested. • The thin oxide layer acts as a glaze and then forms a transfer layer to impede wear. • Increased brittleness causes the wear rate increased. • The increased brittleness of TiSiCN/ZrCN coating is confirmed via mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The graphite-like carbon (GLC) based nanocomposite coating have attracted great attention in tribology, however, its high-temperature tribological behavior is not well investigated. In this study, the GLC-based nanocomposite coatings with different target power by direct current magnetron sputtering were fabricated, and the influence of target power on microstructure, tribological property of these coatings was investigated. The results indicates that these coatings show the graphite-like carbon (with doped nitrogen atom)/amorphous-(Si 3 N 4 , TiO 2 , Ti 2 O 3)/nanocrystalline-TiC structure. With the target power increasing, the content of TiC nanocrstallines fluctuates, yet the carbon content basically is unchanged. The hardness and wear resistance are related to the ratio of nanocrystallines to amorphous phase. The maximum hardness of as-deposited coatings is about 18 GPa. The minimum COF (coefficient of friction) of coatings sliding against Al 2 O 3 was 0.22, and the lowest wear rate is 3.2 × 10−5 mm3/(N·m). At elevated temperature, due to the cracks and the transformation in graphite-like carbon from the sp2 bond carbon clusters (sp2-C) to sp3 bond carbon clusters (sp3-C), the load-bearing capacity becomes worse, and the carbon clusters deteriorate with increasing temperature, resulting in higher COF and wear rate. [Display omitted] • GLC-based nanocomposite coating was deposited using a composite target. • The coating shows N-doped GLC/a-(Si 3 N 4 , TiO 2 , Ti 2 O 3)/nc-TiC structure. • High-temperature tribological behavior of the coating was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• a-C coatings were in-situ grown on ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPC) substrates. • The in-situ growth mechanism of a-C coatings on polymer surface was revealed. • In-situ transition layer endows strong adhesion of a-C coating on EPC substrates. • The possible wear mechanism of a-C coatings on polymer substrates was presented. Surface of ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPC) plastic was continuously treated by carbon plasma in a direct-current magnetron sputtering deposition (DC-MSD) system. Microstructure evolution of the polymer surface with different treating time was analyzed by Diffusive Reflectance infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Focus Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM), respectively. The adhesion strength and tribological performance were measured by scratch tester and reciprocating ball-on-disc tribometer. Results showed that the bombardment of energetic plasma was capable of activating the surface polymer substrate, which could induce an in-situ transformation from organic carbon to inorganic carbon of the surface layer, following with an epitaxial growth of amorphous carbon upon the in-situ transition layer with the continuous treatment of carbon plasma. This kind of in-situ growing a-C coating on polymer including the in-situ transformation of top layer and the epitaxial growth on in-situ transition layer endow the weak substrate an excellent protective surface with strong adhesion, which exhibited much lower friction and wear. The possible wear mechanism of a-C coatings on polymer substrates was also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the Ti/(Cu, MoS 2)-DLC coatings with various Cu contents were prepared on stainless steel substrates by RF/DC magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of Cu content on microstructure, mechanical, tribological, anticorrosion and antifouling properties of coating were systematically investigated. Results showed that the addition of Cu could modify the composited microstructure and enhance the multi-functional protection of Ti/(Cu, MoS 2)-DLC coating. As the increase of Cu content, the surface roughness and sp2/sp3 ratio of Ti/(Cu, MoS 2)-DLC coating presented an uptrend. Meanwhile, the hardness and elastic modulus of coating gradually displayed a downtrend. Overall, the coating with 7.6 at.% Cu exhibited optimal multi-functional protective effects in marine environment, including self-lubrication, wear-resistance, anticorrosion and antifouling ability. • Multi-functional Ti/(Cu, MoS 2)-DLC coatings with different Cu content were deposited via RF/DC magnetron sputtering technique. • The surface roughness and sp2 / sp3 ratio values gradually increased with the increase of Cu content. • The tribological, anticorrosion and antifouling properties of Ti/(Cu, MoS 2)-DLC coatings could be tailored by Cu doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]