Hard Wear-Resistant Ti-Si-C Coatings for Cu-Cr Electrical Contacts

Ph Kiryukhantsev-Korneev; A Sytchenko; D Moskovskikh; K Kuskov; L Volkova; M Poliakov; Y Pogozhev; S Yudin; E Yakushko; A Nepapushev

doi:10.3390/ma16030936

Hard Wear-Resistant Ti-Si-C Coatings for Cu-Cr Electrical Contacts

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jan 19;16(3):936. doi: 10.3390/ma16030936.

Authors

Ph Kiryukhantsev-Korneev¹, A Sytchenko¹, D Moskovskikh^{2

3}, K Kuskov², L Volkova⁴, M Poliakov⁴, Y Pogozhev¹, S Yudin^{2

3}, E Yakushko³, A Nepapushev²

Affiliations

¹ Scientific-Educational Center of SHS, National University of Science and Technology «MISiS», 119049 Moscow, Russia.
² Center of Functional Nano-Ceramics, National University of Science and Technology «MISiS», 119049 Moscow, Russia.
³ Department of Physics, Moscow Polytechnic University, 107023 Moscow, Russia.
⁴ Institute of Nanotechnology of Microelectronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences INME RAS, 19991 Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

In this study, hard wear-resistant Ti-Si-C coatings were deposited on Cu-Cr materials to improve their performance as sliding electrical contact materials. A ceramic disk composed of Ti₃SiC₂ and TiC phases was used as a target for DC magnetron sputtering to deposit the coatings. The influence of the power supplied to the magnetron on the chemical composition, structure, and friction coefficient of the coatings was examined. The coatings demonstrated high hardness (23-25 GPa), low wear rate (1-3 × 10^-5 mm³/N/m) and electrical resistance (300 μOhm·cm), and fair resistance to electroerosion. The coating deposited at 450 W for 30 min displayed optimal properties for protecting the Cu-Cr alloy from the arc effect.

Keywords: Cu-Cr; Ti-Si-C coatings; electrical contacts; electrical resistance; magnetron sputtering; tribology.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.