Growth and characterization of integrated nano- and microcrystalline dual layer composite diamond coatings on WC–Co substrates

Abstract

In this work, integrated composite diamond (ICD) coatings have been achieved with top layer nanocrystallinity, low friction coefficient and enhanced integrity. ICD coatings were deposited on chemically treated tungsten carbide (WC–Co) substrates using hot filament chemical vapour deposition technique. Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) layer was deposited over microcrystalline diamond (MCD) layer with a coating architecture of NCD/transition layer/MCD/WC–Co. Graded transition layer thickness of ~1μm was realized by controlling the process parameters such as methane concentration and chamber pressure in order to integrate the MCD and NCD layers. Integrity of the coatings was examined by the cross-sectional studies. Structural and microstructural characteristics of ICD coatings were compared with those of MCD coatings. The measured average nanohardness of ICD coating was ~96GPa. A low and stable friction coefficient of ~0.06 was observed for ICD coatings against silicon nitride (Si3N4). ICD coatings were anticipated to exploit the advantages of both NCD and MCD coatings and these coatings can be promising candidates for various mechanical applications.