Corrosion behavior of Ti–Al–N/Ti–Al duplex coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy in NaCl aqueous solution

Abstract In this study, Ti–Al–N/Ti–Al duplex coating was deposited on AZ31 magnesium alloy by magnetron sputtering with a Ti/Al composite target. Scanning electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy were applied to investigate the morphology and elemental concentration of the obtained coating, respectively. The top layer was Ti–Al–N film with a Ti:Al:O:N ratio of 0.32:0.84:0.08:1, and the bottom layer was Ti–Al film with a Ti:O:Al ratio of 1.94:0.12:1. Each layer of this coating presented a developed columnar structure. The polarization test and immersion test were used to investigate corrosion behavior of the coated sample in 3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution. The results showed that this duplex coating could protect the substrate effectively in NaCl aqueous solution. Nevertheless, several through-thickness micropores in the coating finally induced the failure of the coated AZ31 in the immersion test.