Effect of Deposition Pressure on Properties of Zr-B-C Coatings

GUO Feng; MA Lisha; LIU Yanmei; YIN Zhaoxing; XUE Rui; XU Yuanjian; ZHANG Dongqing; WANG Tiegang

doi:10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2025.06.015

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (6) : 127-136. DOI: 10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2025.06.015

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Effect of Deposition Pressure on Properties of Zr-B-C Coatings

GUO Feng¹, MA Lisha^2,*, LIU Yanmei¹, YIN Zhaoxing¹, XUE Rui³, XU Yuanjian⁴, ZHANG Dongqing¹, WANG Tiegang^1,*

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Abstract

The work aims to deal with the low fracture toughness and poor wear resistance of Zirconium diboride (ZrB₂). The carbide incorporation approach was used and controlled C₂H₂ gas was introduced to prepare Zr-B-C coatings by integrating high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (pulsed DC) to systematically explore the effect of deposition pressure (0.5-1.0 Pa) on the structural properties of the coatings. The phase composition, microscopic morphology, mechanical properties and tribological properties of the coatings were systematically characterized by analytical methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nanoindentation instrument. The structural analysis by XRD showed that all Zr-B-C coatings exhibited a significant (001) crystal plane preference orientation, and all coatings presented the composite characteristics of hexagonal ZrB₂ and cubic ZrC. At 0.5 Pa, the coating demonstrated optimal properties: maximum hardness of 23.3 GPa, highest elastic modulus of 378.6 GPa, and lowest wear rate of 5.4× 10^-7 mm³/(N·mm). With increasing deposition pressure from 0.5 Pa to 0.8 Pa, both hardness H and elastic modulus E decreased significantly from 23.3 GPa and 378.6 GPa to 21.2 GPa and 351.1 GPa, respectively. The critical load of the coating was improved from 41.3 N to 51.2 N. The deposition pressure significantly affects the properties of Zr-B-C coatings. At a deposition pressure of 0.5 Pa, the coating exhibits the best hardness, toughness, and tribological properties. However, as the deposition pressure increased, the coating hardness and frictional coefficient decreased, while the wear rate and critical load improves.

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Zr-B-C coatings / mechanical properties / tribological properties / deposition pressure / hardness / elastic modulus

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GUO Feng, MA Lisha, LIU Yanmei, YIN Zhaoxing, XUE Rui, XU Yuanjian, ZHANG Dongqing, WANG Tiegang. Effect of Deposition Pressure on Properties of Zr-B-C Coatings[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2025, 22(6): 127-136 https://doi.org/10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2025.06.015

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