Nitriding Temperature Research Articles

Enhanced plasmonic performance of TiO2 derived TiN films via gas nitridation

This study demonstrates a cost-effective method for planar titanium nitride plasmonic film by nitriding spin-coated TiO2 in ammonia atmosphere. The effect of nitridation temperature on the structural, morphological, electrical and optical characteristics of the coated films were investigated. The films exhibited high carrier concentration of 1022/cc with significant reduction in resistivity of more than three order of magnitude, indicating the conversion to the nitride phase. Negative permittivity, crucial for plasmonic applications in the visible wavelength region, was verified for wavelengths > 463 nm using Drude-Lorentz model. A three-layer model was employed to verify the material’s plasmonic behaviour. The straightforward fabrication route, which combines spin-coating and ammonia nitridation at 950 °C, offers a new approach for titanium nitride films for plasmonic based gas and biosensing device applications in the visible region. In addition, for fabricating titanium nitride coatings for applications that require abrasion resistance, electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and biocompatibility.

Surface modification of high-speed steel (HSS) drills by plasma nitriding and cathodic cage tin deposition

Cutting tools made of high-speed steel have significant economic and technological importance. To enhance their productivity, thermochemical treatments are sought to improve both surface mechanical and tribological properties. Plasma nitriding and thin film deposition are widely employed for this purpose. In this study, modifications were made to M2 high-speed steel drills through plasma nitriding at temperatures of 400°C and 450°C. Cathodic cage TiN plasma deposition was also performed, varying the dwell time at a fixed temperature of 450°C. Characterization techniques included optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Vickers microhardness testing, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Performance tests were carried out to evaluate the behavior of the drills in relation to wear when machining AISI 1020 steel. It was observed that longer deposition times promote more uniform and thicker layers, and higher nitriding temperatures result in thicker nitride layers. An increase in hardness was noticeable in all deposition and nitriding treatments, with the nitrided samples exhibiting the highest hardness. During performance tests, the cathodic cage plasma TiN deposition demonstrated greater potential for application in HSS drills, with a treatment lasting 4 h providing the best results.

In Situ Growth of MoN on Nickel Foam for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Solution.

Highly efficient, stable, and low-cost hydrogen evolution catalysts are urgently required for water electrolysis. Herein, a method for in situ growth of medium-nitrogen nanosheet MoN catalysts with a large electrochemical surface area on nickel foam (NF) is proposed. The results show that the morphology of the as-prepared catalysts greatly depends on the nitrogen sources and nitridation temperature. The MoN/NF catalyst nitride at 700 °C using melamine as a nitrogen source exhibits a spindle-like morphology consisting of stacked nanosheets, which is conducive to exposing more active sites, thereby increasing the catalyst activity. The N atoms in MoN could adjust the chemical environment of the metal by changing the density of the d-band electron state, which further improves the HER performance. Benefiting from the regulation of Mo charge distribution and exposure to more active sites through N doping and morphological control, the MoN/NF catalyst exhibits superior HER performance with an overpotential of 70 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm-2, a Tafel slope of 44.3 mV dec-1, and an Rct of 1.83 Ω, indicating high HER catalytic activity, fast kinetics, and excellent conductivity. Theoretical calculations reveal that among the (002), (202), and (200) planes of MoN, the (202) plane exhibits the lowest value of |ΔGH*| (0.47 eV), which is close to that of Pt(111) (0.14 eV). More importantly, MoN(202) also has the smallest work function of 3.58 eV, indicating an enhanced capability to offer electrons. This work develops a strategy to design high-performance and low-cost transition-metal nitride HER catalysts.

Non-damaged preparation and energy band structure modulation of silicon-based nitrogen-terminated diamond films

The surface terminal structure of diamond film determines its surface physical properties. In this paper, the surface of silicon-based polycrystalline diamond film was nitrided by radio frequency (RF) plasma, and the evolution of the diamond surface termination structure under different nitridation temperatures and times was investigated. In-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that nitridation at 600 °C is beneficial for the more effective formation of nitrogen terminal diamond (N-diamond) structure dominated by CN bonds on the diamond surface. In-situ ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) indicated that the electron affinity of diamond surface can gradually change from negative to positive with prolonged nitridation time. The increased positive electron affinity (PEA) of surface terminations made it more difficult for electrons to escape from the diamond surface, resulting in a significant decrease in the intensity of the secondary electron peak. Furthermore, AFM and Raman measurements indicated that nitridation treatment does not significantly improve the surface roughness of diamond or form graphite phase, which realized the preparation of non-damaged N-diamond.

Microstructure and magnetic properties of surfactant-assisted ball milling NdFe8Co2Mo2 powders and their nitrides

The NdFe8Co2Mo2 alloy ribbons were prepared by melt-spinning. The powder was prepared through surfactant-assisted ball milling, followed by nitriding to produce the NdFe8Co2Mo2Nx alloy. The alloy ribbons grain size decreases as the copper roller speed increases. At the speed of 30 m/s, a pure 1:12 phase alloy ribbons were produced. The grain size decreases with increasing the ball milling time, but the composition phases almost unchanged of the alloy powder. The grain size refine after nitriding, but the grain volume expands when the nitriding temperature exceeds 500 °C. With increasing ball milling time and nitriding temperature, the remanence (Mr) and coercivity (Hc) of the alloy powder increase first and then decrease. The alloy powder obtained from ball milling for 3 h after nitriding at 475 ℃ for 3 h, resulting in Mr was 44.43 Am2/kg, Hc was 0.434 T, and saturation magnetization (Ms) was 74.89 Am2/kg.

Effect of stage gas nitriding on corrosion and wear resistance of Ti6Al4V alloy in physiological environment

The wear and corrosion resistance of the Ti6Al4V alloy after gas nitriding combined with stage heat treatment was studied in the physiological environment. It was shown that nitriding temperature at the first stage of the heat treatment mainly effects on the surface quality and microhardness of the treated alloy. The corrosion behaviour of the nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy was studied in Ringer's solution, which simulates the physiological environment of human body. It was shown that the corrosion resistance of the alloy is enhanced by increasing thickness and TiN content in the nitride layer, and improving surface quality. The tribological characteristics of the nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy in a tribo-pair with PE-UHMW were evaluated in a 10 % aqueous solution of chondroitin sulfate, which simulates the synovial fluid. It was established that reducing nitriding temperature at the first stage of the heat treatment improved the wear resistance of the treated alloy due to decrease of the surface roughness and microhardness.

Study on the microstructure and properties of 35Mn2V steel used in oil pipe by salt bath nitriding

Oil pipe is easy to fail due to wear and corrosion during its service, which seriously affects the normal oil production and causes some unnecessary losses，while salt bath nitriding can form a composite infiltration layer through the composite technology on the surface of the workpiece, which can realize the combination of nitriding and oxidation, to achieve the effect of surface strengthening and modification. In this paper, salt bath nitriding is carried out on oil pipe (35Mn2V steel) with different temperature and time, and metallographic test, loose layer grade evaluation, XRD analysis, SEM observation, corrosion wear test, etc. are conducted to study the effect of salt bath nitriding process on the structure and properties of the permeating layer, comprehensively evaluate the quality of the permeating layer, and explore the wear resistance mechanism. The results show that when 35Mn2V is nitrided at 580℃, the infiltration layer mainly consists of oxide film, porous layer, compound layer and diffusion layer, while when it is nitrided at 630℃, the infiltration layer consists of an additional nitrogenous austenite layer. The thickness of 35Mn2V compound layer increases with the increase of nitriding temperature and the extension of nitriding time, and the influence of changing nitriding temperature on the thickness is greater than that of changing nitriding time. After a short time and low temperature nitriding, the phase composition of the infiltration layer is mainly ε-Fe3N and ε-Fe3O4, after a long time and high temperature nitriding, the phase composition is mainly ε-Fe2N and Fe3O4, in which Fe3O4 is formed in the subsequent oxidation process. The degree of loose layer of the infiltration layer increases with the increase of nitriding temperature and the extension of nitriding time. Most of the loose layer grades of the infiltration layer are level 3, and a few are level 2. The degree of loose layer of the infiltration layer is determined by the process of salt bath nitriding, and the subsequent oxidation, ion stabilization and other processes have little influence on it. When 35Mn2V is subjected to corrosion wear test under small load, the friction coefficient of oxide film is small. When the loose layer is worn, the friction coefficient increases obviously. The compound layer is mainly composed of iron-nitrogen compounds, and its friction coefficient is minimal and relatively stable. When the compound layer is worn through, the friction coefficient of the diffusion layer increases.

Optimization of precursor structure by dispersants to promote nitrogen reduction process to prepare high-quality VN

In this study, three dispersants of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and citric acid (CA) are used to optimize the structure of the precursor in order to prepare high quality VN. Under optimum condition, the VN with nitrogen content of 17.94 % is prepared by adding 5 % PVP. The sequence of phase evolution from the precursor to VN is: APV → V2O5 → V6O13 → V7O13 → VO2 → V3O5 → V2O3 → (VC) → VN. The precursors of adding 5 % PVP have lower Ea of 0.17 kJ mol−1, 20.51 kJ mol−1 and 62.70 kJ mol−1 during reduction and nitration process, which is easier to be reduced and nitridated. PVP not only promotes the uniform dispersion of the carbon powders in the vanadium rich solution but also enhance the hydrogen bonding of APV ions to promote their nucleation and growth. The precursor with uniform and concentrated particle size distribution, complete and stable encapsulation of shell of APV and core of carbon powder, and uniform and moderate thickness of APV shell is successfully prepared by adding PVP. The precursor has a larger phase reaction interface and more reactive sites during the nitriding reduction process, which results in a faster reduction and nitriding rate. In comparison with the current process, the nitriding reaction temperature has been reduced from 1400 ∼ 1500 °C to 1150 ∼ 1200 °C, the reaction time has been shortened by 75 %, and the N2 consumption has been reduced by 40 %.

Effect of N2-H2 remote plasma nitridation temperature on surface properties of Te-doped GaSb crystals

GaSb is regarded as one of the most promising near-infrared optoelectronic materials in recent years. However, due to the ease of natural oxidation of GaSb, the surface will promptly form a thick oxide layer which is highly resistant to removal, resulting in detrimental interface defects and higher surface state density. Although studies have demonstrated the feasibility of plasma for removing oxide, the ultra-high vacuum is necessary for complete removal, which poses challenges for commercial applications. Herein, we optimized the nitrogen plasma passivation process for Te-doped GaSb, combining remote plasma source with Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) in-situ annealing to modify GaSb (001) surface, which approaches non-damaging treatment. The temperature during passivation will affect nitrogenation on GaSb surface, result in enrichment of metallic Sb when reaching 573 K, and impact emission efficiency. By setting the passivation temperature at 523 K and combining with in-situ annealing, the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of GaSb has doubled. This demonstrates the validity of low-temperature nitrogen passivation in improving surface state and reducing defect density on GaSb.

EFFECT OF GAS NITRIDING PARAMETERS ON THE MICRO-HARDNESS OF HIGH-SPEED STEEL-CUTTING TOOLS

In this study, the nitriding parameters, such as nitriding time, nitrogen flow, and cooling type, were regularly modified to assess the effects of each on the microhardness of tools constructed of high-speed steel designed for commercial usage. The nitriding temperature was maintained at 670 °С for all of the tools. The tools were designed to measure microhardness. With a maximum value of 2000 HV at a time of 42 hours, direct nitriding with a nitrogen flow of 20 l/h and air cooling exhibits an apparent relationship between nitriding time and microhardness. The maximum microhardness value (1555.44 HV) was achieved by quenching after nitriding for 72 hours with a nitrogen flow rate of 20 l/h. The relationship between nitrogen flow and microhardness is semi-direct for direct nitriding at a nitriding duration of 30 hours and furnace cooling, with a maximum value of 1566.65 HV at a nitrogen flow of 110 l/h. The maximum microhardness was 2000 HV, with a 1.63% increase. The microstructure of the tools was improved by increasing the concentration of iron nitride in the ferrite cell, which means that the gas nitriding process increases the efficiency of cutting operations and reduces workpiece material surface roughness, based on the results of this study, it is advised to use high-purity nitrogen rather than ammonia. high-purity nitrogen gives better results than traditional nitriding using ammonia gas.

Tackling residual tensile stress in AlN-on-Si nucleation layers via the controlled Si(111) surface nitridation

This work is devoted to the study of the influence of controlled Si(111) surface nitridation on the epitaxial growth of AlN-on-Si nucleation layers with reduced tensile stress on ordered crystalline silicon nitride phase. The Si(111) surface nitridation process was performed at low ammonia flux and substrate temperatures in the range of 700–900 °C and was studied using RHEED and STM techniques. A universal criterion, namely the stage of the nitridation process completion is introduced, taking into account the influence of substrate temperature, ammonia flux and nitridation time. The 100 nm AlN nucleation layer on silicon substrates grown by ammonia molecular beam epitaxy is studied using AFM, XRD, HR-TEM and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The Raman data show that reducing the nitridation temperature from 900 °C to 700 °C not only deteriorates the crystalline quality of the subsequent AlN nucleation layers, but also reduces the residual tensile stress by almost 30 %. In the present contribution, micro-Raman spectroscopy is used to determine the nature of the defects formed during the high temperature growth of the AlN nucleation layers and confirms them to be inversion domains. The HR-TEM technique was used to study the AlN/Si interface in AlN-on-Si nucleation layers grown on a nitridated silicon surface at 700 °C and 900 °C at the optimum stage of the nitridation process completion. HR-TEM images of AlN nucleation layers revealed regions with different AlN/Si(111) interfaces: 1) AlN/amorph-Si3N4/Si, 2) AlN/SiN(8 × 8)/Si, and 3) AlN/Si with a sharp interface boundary. Using fast Fourier transform image analysis, it is shown that the presence of amorphous Si3N4 phase inclusions in the AlN/Si interface boundary introduces tensile stresses in the AlN nucleation layer which can be reduced by lowering the nitridation temperature. The results obtained clearly show that one of the causes of cracks in III-nitride layers grown on silicon substrates is the formation of tensile AlN layers with a high content of the amorphous Si3N4 phase at the AlN/Si interface, which is characteristic of silicon nitridation at elevated temperatures (> 700 °C).

Effect of atmospheric-pressure nitrogen plasma treatment at low temperature on fatigue properties of low-alloy steels

A device for parallel-plate-type atmospheric-pressure nitrogen plasma (APNP) treatment, which can generate plasma in a sealed environment with high-purity nitrogen gas, was developed. The objective of the present study was to use microstructural analyses to investigate the effect of APNP treatment at low temperatures on the fatigue properties of low-alloy steels. The APNP treatment was conducted at 473 K, which is lower than the common gas nitriding temperature. X-ray analyses revealed that a nitrogen–oxygen diffusion layer with high fatigue limit was formed on the steel by the APNP treatment at 473 K. Thus, the APNP treatment is an effective approach for increasing the fatigue limit of steels by increasing their surface hardness.

Ion nitriding of a face-centered cubic high-entropy alloy: Nitriding kinetics, the effect of temperature and contact stress on tribological behavior

Face-centered cubic (FCC) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have good mechanical properties, but their low hardness makes it difficult to meet the wear resistance required by actual working conditions. Therefore, the effect of ion nitriding on the microstructure, mechanical properties and tribological properties of Fe40Mn20Cr20Ni20 FCC HEA was investigated in this work. It was found that the activation energy of ionic nitriding of Fe40Mn20Cr20Ni20 FCC HEA was 41.388 kJ/mol, which was lower than that of CoCrFeMnNi HEA (64.034 kJ/mol). When nitriding at 400 °C, the nitrided layer was mainly expanded FCC phase; above 400 °C, the expanded FCC phase began to decompose into CrN and γ phase, the generation of γ phase and the growth of CrN caused the hardness of the nitrided layer to decrease with the increase of temperature. After evaluating the hardness, brittleness and nitriding growth kinetics of the nitrided layer obtained from different nitriding processes, the nitrided layer obtained from the nitriding process with the nitriding temperature of 550 °C and the nitriding time of 5 h was selected for the friction and wear test under different normal forces and temperatures. It was demonstrated that at 20–400 °C, the wear resistance of the nitrided alloy was relatively stable over a wide range of normal forces and was substantially improved over the matrix alloy. At 500–600 °C, due to a certain degree of softening of the surface of the nitrided layer, the wear rate increased slightly, but it was still much lower than that of the matrix alloy.

The Effect of Nitriding Temperature of AISI 316L Steel on Sub-Zero Corrosion Resistance in C2H5OH.

In this paper, glow nitriding processes at cathode potential are used at various temperatures to investigate how they affect the corrosion resistance of 316L steel in ethanol at temperatures of 22 °C and -30 °C. Lowering the test temperature reduces the corrosion rate of the nitrided layers. Conversely, glow nitriding at 450 °C improves the corrosion resistance of the tested steel. Increasing the nitriding temperature to 520 °C increases the corrosion rate. It should be noted that the ethyl alcohol solution, due to the lack of aggressive ions, does not cause significant changes in the corrosion rate of the steel. The value of the corrosion current varies in the range of 10-2-10-3 µA/cm2. Nitrided layers increase the contact angle measured for water and are entirely wettable for ethanol. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of the nitriding temperature of AISI 316L steel on its corrosion resistance in an ethanol solution at room temperature and at -30 °C.

Nitrogen diffusion along the layer boundaries after nitriding of multilayer materials

Diffusion processes play a key role in formation of the structures of new materials and technological processes of strengthening heat treatments, since diffusion is the reason for redistribution of substances in solids. An urgent task is to develop technologically advanced and effective methods for strengthening materials in order to improve their performance properties. There is an increasing need to improve chemical heat treatment methods, which directly affects the wear resistance of working surfaces, and, consequently, the product service life. Near-surface volumes experience increased loads, so the formation of high-strength layers becomes an important task. Quite a few methods of surface hardening are known, among which carburization, nitriding, nitrocarburization and others are widely used. The most interesting is nitriding, since it increases hardness, strength, fatigue limit, and heat resistance. However, despite the proper advantages, nitriding has a number of disadvantages, including the holding duration and small thickness of diffusion layers. The solution is related to intensification of the technological process by increasing the nitriding temperature, activating the nitriding media or directly the parts surface. All these solutions are aimed at accelerating diffusion processes, both in grain volume and along grain boundaries, the velocity along which is many times higher than the velocity of volumetric diffusion. It may be effective to use a new type of structural metal materials with a multilayer structure of hundreds of layers, with thicknesses in the micron and submicron ranges separated by large angular boundaries. The results of metallographic studies showed the effect of the steel layers interchange in the multilayer metal material on diffusion depth after chemical heat treatment. The authors proposed an accelerate diffusion model of diffusible element along the layer boundaries.

Comparison of Nitriding Behavior for Austenitic Stainless Steel 316Ti and Super Austenitic Stainless Steel 904L

In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to compare nitrogen low-energy ion implantation (LEII) into austenitic stainless steel 316Ti and super austenitic stainless steel 904L. While the diffusion and layer growth were very similar, as derived from the decreasing intensity of the substrate reflection, strong variations in the observed lattice expansion—as a function of orientation, the steel alloy, and nitriding temperature—were observed. Nevertheless, a similar resulting nitrogen content was measured using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Furthermore, for some conditions, the formation of a double layer with two distinct lattice expansions was observed, especially for steel 904L. Regarding the stability of expanded austenite, 316Ti had already decayed in CrN during nitriding at 500 °C, while no such effect was observed for 904L. Thus, the alloy composition has a strong influence only on the lattice expansion and the stability of expanded austenite—but not the diffusion and nitrogen content.

The structure evolution of austenite stainless steel with pre-shot peening during plasma nitriding

Abstract Austenitic stainless steel is a very promising metal bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), which has advantages such as high mechanical strength, easy processing, and low cost. However, it is prone to corrosion in the acidic environment of PEMFC, which can have adverse effects on its lifespan and conductivity. By adopting a composite modification method to generate a dense nitride structure on the surface of 304 stainless steel bipolar plates, the corrosion resistance of the bipolar plate substrate can be improved. In this paper, shot peening pretreatment and plasma nitriding hybrid modification methods were employed to improve nitriding efficiency and reduce nitriding critical temperature, which generated a modified layer with good corrosion resistance on the surface of 304 austenitic stainless steel.

Porous TiN-based ceramic electrode with N-modified Co-based Nanorods/TiN heterointerfaces for efficient overall water splitting

The development of high-performance electrocatalytic electrodes for overall water splitting is a crucial issue to realize renewable hydrogen production. This paper presents the in situ growth of N-modified Co-based nanorods on porous TiN ceramic membranes using the hydrothermal method and thermal NH3 treatment, resulting in a novel self-supported electrocatalytic electrode with abundant heterointerfaces, denoted as NCTN-x-y (x: nitridation temperature; y: nitridation time). In the alkaline medium (1 M KOH), the NCTN-350-2 electrode displays the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity (ƞ10 = 66 mV), and the NCTN-250-3 electrode manifests the best oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance (ƞ10 = 270 mV). Accordingly, these two electrodes comprise an electrolyzer, which features a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low cell voltage of 1.63 V. The good electrocatalytic performance can be attributed to the abundant heterointerfaces formed between the porous TiN ceramic membrane and the N-modified Co-based nanorods, in conjunction with the hierarchical pore structure of the TiN ceramic membrane. Theoretical calculations identify that the construction of heterointerfaces modulates the electronic structure of active sites, thereby promoting the dissociation of H2O, optimizing the H* adsorption energy (ΔGH*), and accelerating the reaction kinetics, which ultimately improve the electrocatalytic activity of electrode.

Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy intensity modeling of SiNx ultrathin layer grown on Si (100) and Si (111) substrates by N2 plasma treatment

In this work, we investigate the silicon nitridation process using a N2 plasma Glow Discharge Source (GDS) in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. In situ Angle Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ARXPS) measurements were performed to determine various chemical environments of the surface species. The main goals of this study are determination of the film chemical composition, to estimate its thickness and identify various phenomena taking place during the nitridation process under different experimental conditions. To achieve these objectives, we developed an ARXPS intensity model for an ultrathin SiNx overlayer. Based on the ARXPS results, which indicate that the silicon nitride film is not homogenous, we adopted a bi-layer model composed of two SixNyOz layers with varying thickness and chemical composition. The model is built from analysis of photoelectron intensities, considering a comparison between experimental and theoretical data. This bi-layer model revealed that the silicon nitride layer consists of a surface layer composed of approximately equal amounts of silicon and nitrogen (50% each), and an interfacial layer containing varying amounts of oxygen depending on experimental parameters. The presence of oxygen is due to residual air contamination in the vacuum chamber and/or to Si native oxide. The estimated thickness of silicon nitride film is less than 9 nm, depending on the nitridation time and temperature.The model developed in this work enabled us to study the effects of initial surface state (as received or chemically cleaned), Si substrate crystallographic orientation (such as (100) and (111)), and the nitridation temperature (room temperature and 500°C). The diffusing species (N+, N2+, O+), which play a crucial role during nitridation, were found to be influenced by temperature, treatment time, and substrate orientation. The diffusion phenomenon competed with other processes such as NO desorption, leading to a significant impact on formation of the SiNx film. Furthermore, we compared the thickness obtained from the ARXPS model using cross-sectional High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) images. Additional Low-Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) measurements indicated that the SiNx film was amorphous.

Exploring microstructural evolution, nitrogen depth profile, and dry wear performance in 31CrMoV9 steel through combined severe shot peening and plasma nitriding

The present study investigates the influence of severe shot peening (SSP) on the plasma nitriding behavior and sliding wear performance of 31CrMoV9 steel. Initially, the steel was austenitized at 880 °C, followed by oil quenching, and tempering at 520 °C for one hour. These samples were shot peened using high-carbon steel shots, resulting in an enhancement in surface hardness up to 447 HV, gradually converging to the initial martensitic hardness after 140 µm depth. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) scrutinized the initial and surface treated martensitic samples. Afterward, the plasma nitriding treatments were carried out at temperatures of 400 °C, 450 °C, and 500 °C for 8 hours in a 30% N2 + 70% H2 atmosphere and 300 Pa pressure. Microhardness testing, SEM, XRD, and glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) evaluated both plasma nitrided (PN) and severe shot peened/plasma nitrided (SSP-PN) samples. Cross-sectional SEM observations revealed compound layer thicknesses of approximately 2.8 µm, 5.0 µm, and 6.3 µm for PN samples at 400 °C, 450 °C, and 500 °C, respectively. SSP-PN samples exhibited a substantial increase — roughly 71%, 44%, and 33% increase, respectively, compared to PN samples. GDOES analysis supported this trend and indicated enhanced nitrogen diffusion depth, particularly evident in SSP-PN samples at consistent temperatures. The XRD results showed the stability of Fe4N, Fe2–3N, and CrN phases at all three nitriding temperatures. Furthermore, the intensity of these phases increases with temperature and is augmented by the application of the SSP. Microhardness measurements indicated hardness escalation: from 775 HV to 980 HV at 400 °C, 932 HV to 1096 HV at 450 °C, and 1011 HV to 1205 HV at 500 °C due to SSP. Finally, the wear performance was investigated between the non-nitrided, SSP, PN, SSP-PN, samples. Initially, SSP led to decreased wear performance up to 500 m, followed by improved behavior up to 1500 m. At 400 °C, the SSP-PN sample exhibited a 12% lower wear rate than PN. At 450 °C and 1500 m, the SSP-PN sample displayed a 24% reduction, while at 500 °C, it showed a 27% reduction compared to PN. SEM observations indicated abrasion as the primary wear mechanism across all samples. The overall results indicated a significant similarity in the nitrogen depth profile, hardness depth, and wear performance between the SSP-PN sample at 450 °C and the PN sample at 500 °C. The fact suggested a potential reduction of approximately 50 °C in the typical plasma nitriding temperature for 31CrMoV9 steel as a result of the SSP process.