Publication title:
"Highly-oriented zirconium nitride and oxynitride coatings deposited via high-power impulse magnetron sputtering: crystal-facet driven corrosion behavior in domestic wastewater."
Abstract:
Herein, highly crystalline ZrxNy and ZrxNyOz coatings are achieved by the deposition via high‐power impulse magnetron sputtering. Various N2 and N2/O2 gas mixtures with argon are investigated. The chemical composition and, as a result, mechanical properties of the deposited layer can be tailored along with morphological and crystallographic structural changes. The corrosion resistance behavior is studied by potentiodynamic measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a sample of synthetic wastewater designed to imitate real‐life domestic wastewater. The corrosion current density of the ZrxNyOz coating is in the range of 33–70 μA cm−2, whereas for the zirconium nitride layers, values below 1.0 μA cm−2 are achieved. The highest corrosion resistance of 64 nm year−1 is observed for the ZrxNy coating deposited with 1.00% N2 content in the gas mixture with a corrosion potential of −0.41 V Ag/AgCl.