Novel low friction titanium nitride coatings by pulsed magnetron sputtering

Titanium nitride coatings, because of their high hardness, resistance to corrosion and wear and gold-like appearance, are widely used in industrial applications ranging from coating of decorative items to protection of cutting and forming tools against wear and corrosion. Because of their excellent tribological properties especially their suitability in cutting, abrasive and erosive wear application, titanium nitride coatings have attracted considerable research. The suitability of TiN coatings as excellent tribological coatings is explained by their high hardness, good adhesion to steel substrate and chemical stability. However, there is one critical shortcoming which affects the use of TiN coatings in commercial products. It is that TiN coatings show high friction coefficients against some counterfaces.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo