Abstract
Depleted uranium (DU) is oxidized readily due to its chemical activities, which limits its applications in nuclear industry. TiN film has been applied widely due to its good mechanical properties and its excellent corrosion resistance. In this work, TiN protection films were deposited on DU by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS), respectively. The surface morphology and microstructures were investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). The hardness and Young’s modulus were determined by nano-Indenter. The wear behavior and adhesion was analyzed by pin-on-disc tests and scratch adhesion tests and the corrosion resistance was evaluated by electrochemical measurements. The results show that the TiN films that were deposited by HPPMS outperformed TiN film deposited by DCMS, with improvements on surface roughness, mechanical properties, wear behavior, adhesion strength, and corrosion resistance, thanks to its much denser columnar grain growth structure and preferred orientation of (111) plane with the lowest strain energy. Besides, the process of Ti interlayer deposition by HPPMS can enhance the film properties to an extent as compared to DCMS, which is attributed to the enhanced ion bombardment during the HPPMS.
Highlights
Uranium is widely used in civilian and military applications due to its unique nuclear properties
The TiN film that was deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) mode shows large micro particles with voids between each particle
TiN film has been deposited on depleted uranium (DU) under low temperature by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS), respectively
Summary
Uranium is widely used in civilian and military applications due to its unique nuclear properties. Surface modification and film techniques have been applied to improve the corrosion resistance of U, including Ni [3], Al [4], Ti-based [5], Cr-based [6] films, and Mo+ , C+ , N+ [7,8] ion-implantation. These films can increase corrosion resistance to a certain extent. It is hard to get a pure surface without oxidation for films deposited on depleted uranium due to its high chemical activity. There exists an urgent demand for preparing a film with good performance to improve the serve life of depleted uranium (DU)
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