Effect of deposition temperature on the phase transition of Ti, Al, C and related properties of the graphite-like carbon film

Abstract

The graphite-like carbon films contained Ti and Al elements were prepared by magnetron sputtering at different deposition temperatures and the structure, corrosive as well as tribological properties in different environments with ZrO₂ as counterpart balls were investigated. The results revealed that the sp³C content in the film first increased and then decreased, the Ti, Al elements in the films changed from TiC nanocrystals to Ti₃AlC with increasing temperature. Specially, there were totally Ti₃AlC with an ant-perovskite phase at 350 °C. Consequently, the film contained Ti₃AlC phase showed better corrosive resistance compared to that contained TiC phase, due to the TiC nanocrystal reduced the migration barrier and penetration energy of Cl ions in the corrosion medium, which accelerated the process of corrosion failure. It was noteworthy that the film prepared at 350 °C showed better corrosion resistance due to its higher sp³C content, higher hydrophobicity, higher adhesion strength, lower residual internal stresses, and lower film porosity. All the film exhibited better tribological properties in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution than in air related to the water lubrication. Especially, owing to the synthesis effect of TiC and Ti₃AlC phase, the film prepared at 300 °C showed better tribological properties.