Composition, structure, and wear resistance of (TiZrNbMoTa)C N1- high entropy alloy carbonitride coatings prepared by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

HEN has high hardness and good toughness but a high coefficient of friction and poor wear resistance. In this study, a high hardness, toughness, and wear-resistant HECxN1-x coating was prepared by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS) technology. The phase composition, microstructure, mechanical properties, and tribological properties of the HEN and HECxN1-x coatings were investigated. The results show that all coatings have single-phase rock salt structures. The double anion lattice structure of the HECxN1-x coating produces a high lattice distortion effect and grain refinement effect, which realizes the strengthening and hardening of the coating. When the [C]/([C] + [N]) ratio is 0.3, the hardness of the HECxN1-x coating reaches the maximum value of 41.7GPa, and when the [C]/([C] + [N]) ratio is 0.4, the coating toughness reaches the maximum value of 0.91GPa, which are 48 % and 203 % higher than HEN. The self-lubricating effect of supersaturated precipitated amorphous carbon makes the HECxN1-x coating achieve excellent tribological properties. Among them, HEC0.5N0.5 coating has the best tribological properties, its coefficient of friction (COF) is 0.391, which is 148 % lower than that of HEN coating, and the wear rate is reduced to 1/15 of HEN coating, which is one order of magnitude reduction. Introducing the C element based on HEN can effectively solve the problems of high friction coefficient and poor wear resistance of high entropy nitride ceramic coatings.