Corrosion and tribological studies of chromium nitride coated on steel with an interlayer of electroplated chromium

The electrochemical and tribological behavior of CrN coatings on steel are investigated. A single layer of chromium nitride coating is compared with a double layer of the coating (CrN/Cr/steel) in which the interlayer chromium was produced by electroplating with the aim of improving the corrosion and tribological performance of the steel. The CrN coatings are deposited by using a reactive cathodic arc plasma deposition technology in an industrial scale, while the interlayer of chromium produced by electroplating. The coating assemblies have been compared in terms of hardness, wear and corrosion resistance. The composition and structure of the chromium nitride have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), using both θ/2θ diffraction mode and the glancing-incidence X-ray diffraction mode. The surface morphology was examined by using SEM. The improvement in wear and corrosion resistance after cathodic arc plasma deposition with and without a hard chrome as an interlayer are discussed in considering the microstructure changes.