Investigation on Multifunctional Properties of Sputtered Ti-Si-B-C Coating with Varied Thickness over Targeted Surface

A nanocomposite coating of titanium, silicon, boron and carbon (Ti-Si-B-C) with variable width (3 to 25 µm) has been deposited on stainless steel 304 grade (SS-304) surface using magnetron sputtering. The variation in coating thickness of Ti-Si-B-C onto SS-304 was investigated to systematically explore its structural, mechanical, oxidation properties and electrical resistivity. The study of mechanical properties revealed high hardness and elastic modulus of surfaces for lower thickness Ti-Si-B-C film. Analysis of adhesion behavior of coated surfaces with higher thickness exhibited no spallation at 30 N loads. The isothermal oxidation kinetics studies for higher thickness coatings (≥ 15 µm) using thermogravimetric analysis showed excellent thermal stability at ~800 °C. Furthermore, electrical property measured by four point probe exhibited low resistivity with increase in thickness at room temperature. Surface properties such as microstructure, phases and elemental analysis of the deposited films were carried out by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. All these obtained experimental results showed the attainment of perfect coating width of Ti-Si-B-C which can one step ahead be successfully applied in diverse fields.