Nickel-aluminium bronze (NiBRAl) casting alloy tribological/corrosion resistance properties improvement via deposition of a Cu-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film; optimization of sputtering magnetron process conditions

Diamond-like carbon is used as a solid-lubricant and a wear-resistance coating in various industries owing to excellent mechanical/tribological properties. In the present study, by doping copper metal to the DLC-based coating applied on the nickel-bronze-aluminum alloy (NiBRAl), the argon to methane blowing rate and the substrate temperature were optimized. The electrochemical analyses revealed that the corrosion resistance of the coated sample with pure DLC-coating increased almost three times more than the value obtained for the uncoated sample. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the coefficient of friction value is reduced from 0.83 for the bare alloy to about 0.59 after applying the DLC-based coating. The Cu-DLC alloy with a 90:10 copper: carbon ratio (at 300 degrees C) showed the best anti-corrosion properties.