The WC and CrC Coatings Deposited from Carbonyls Using PE CVD Method-Structure and Properties

Marianna Trebuňová; Daniel Kottfer; Karol Kyziol; Mária Kaňuchová; Dávid Medveď; Róbert Džunda; Marta Kianicová; Lukáš Rusinko; Alena Breznická; Mária Csatáryová

doi:10.3390/ma16145044

The WC and CrC Coatings Deposited from Carbonyls Using PE CVD Method-Structure and Properties

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jul 17;16(14):5044. doi: 10.3390/ma16145044.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Measurement, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia.
² Department of Mechanical Technologies and Materials, Faculty of Special Technology, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, Ku Kyselke 469, 911 06 Trenčín, Slovakia.
³ Department of Physical Chemistry and Modelling, Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH University of Science and Technology, A. Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30 059 Kraków, Poland.
⁴ Raw Materials Processing Department, Institute of Mountainous Sciences and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnology, Technical University of Košice, Park Komenskeho 19, 043 84 Košice, Slovakia.
⁵ Institute of Materials Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonova 47, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia.
⁶ Department of Physics, Mathematics and Technologies, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Presov, Ul. 17 Novembra 1, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia.

Abstract

This article presents a comparative study of WC and CrC coatings deposited by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor method using the hexacarbonyls of W and Cr as precursors. The measured thicknesses of the WC and CrC coatings are equal to ca. 1.5 µm. The WC coating consists of microcolumns with a conical end, with gaps between the microcolumns up to approximately 100 nm, and their structure is formed by nanoparticles in the shape of globules with a diameter of up to 10 nm. In the case of the CrC coating, a cauliflower structure with gaps ranging from 20 to 100 nm was achieved. The diameter of cauliflower grains is from 50 nm to 300 nm. The C content in the WC and CrC coating is 66.5 at.% and 75.5 at.%. The W content is 1.4 at.% and the Cr content in the CrC coating is 1.2 at.%. The hardness and Young's modulus of the WC coating are equal to 9.2 ± 1.2 GPa 440.2 ± 14.2 GPa, respectively. The coefficients of friction and wear volume of the WC coating are equal to 0.7 and -1.6 × 10⁶/+3.3 × 10⁶ µm³, respectively. The hardness and Young's modulus of the CrC coating are 7.5 ± 1.2 GPa and 280 ± 18.5 GPa, respectively. The coefficients of friction and wear volume of the CrC coating are 0.72 and -18.84 × 10⁶/+0.35 × 10⁶ µm³, respectively.

Keywords: Cr hexacarbonyl; CrC coating; W hexacarbonyl; WC coating; plasma method; surface properties.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, grant numbers VEGA 1/0432/17, KEGA 018TUKE-4/2023 and KEGA 020TUKE-4/2023.