Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) (Moscow, Russia)

A. A. Lozovan, Dr. Eng., Prof.
S. V. Savushikna, Dr. Eng., Prof., sveta_049@mail.ru
S. Ya. Betsofen, Dr. Eng., Prof.
I. A. Nikolaev, Cand. Eng., Associate Prof.

Solid lubricant coatings based on complex nitride matrices TiAlZrN with InSn additives were obtained on steel AISI 304 by reactive magnetron sputtering. Depending on the indium and TiN content, the structure, phase composition, microhardness and tribological characteristics were studied at room temperature and as a result of stepwise heating of the substrate-film system under fretting wear conditions in contact with a counterbody made of ShKh-15 steel. The surface structure of the coatings changed from homogeneous to finely crystalline with an increase in the indium content from 1.4 to 1.9 at.%, and to microglobular with an increase in the indium content to 5.7 at.%, which was also accompanied by an increase in surface roughness. Indium reflexes are absent in XRD patterns when its content in the coatings is less than 2.6 at.%. The friction coefficients of coatings with different indium contents at room temperature varied from 0.20 to 0.42. The coatings exhibited predominant abrasive and adhesive wear mechanisms. Stepwise heating to 100 and 200°C resulted in a decrease in the friction coefficient to 0.08 and а wear of the nanocrystalline coating containing 1.9 at.% In and 0.2 at.% Sn.

The work was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, Grant No. FSFF-2023-0006.

1. Saetang V., Taweejun N., Zhu H., Jaafar H., Daodon W. Effects of laser texturing on tribological properties and wettability of titanium nitride-coated AISI M2 high-speed steel. Surface & Coatings Technology. 2024. Vol. 490. 131173.
2. Neto J. F. M., Naeem M., Lima L. F., Yang Y., Liborio M. S., FeitorM.  S., Alves S. M., Sousa R. R. M., Iqbal J., Costa T. H. C., Nascimento R. M. Improved wear resistance of AISI-4340 steel by Ti–Nb–C–N and MoS2 composite coating by cathodic cage plasma deposition. Physica B: Condensed Matter. 2024. Vol. 676. 415652.
3. Alves U. C., Ricci V. P., Mota I. G. C., Koga G., Hassui A., Ventura C. E. H. Mechanical and tribological characterization of TiAlN/TiN and TiSiN/AlTiN coating systems for cutting tools. Journal of Manufacturing Processes. 2025. Vol. 145. pp. 522–535.
4. Vales S., Avila P. R. T., Rosenkranz A., Droppa Jr. R., Soldera F., Garcia J., Alvarez F., Pinto H. Effect of ion peening and pulsed plasma nitriding on the structural properties of TiN coatings sputtered onto 100Cr6 steel. Materials Chemistry and Physics. 2019. Vol. 235. pp. 121723–121731.
5. Mandri A. D., Colombo D. A., Sanchez N. V., Brühl S. P., Dommarco R. C. Rolling contact fatigue of ion nitrided and TiN coated AISI 4140 steel under pure rolling condition. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2025. Vol. 170. 109311.
6. Hacisalihoglu I., Yildiz F., Alsaran A. Wear performance of different nitride-based coatings on plasma nitrided AISI M2 tool steel in dry and lubricated conditions. Wear. 2017. Vol. 384–385. pp. 159–168.
7. Feng W., Yan D., He J., Li X., Dong Y. Reactive plasma sprayed TiN coating and its tribological properties. Wear. 2005. Vol. 258. No. 5–6. pp. 806–811.
8. Vereschaka A., Grigoriev S., Tabakov V., Migranov M., Sitnikov N., Milovich F., et al. Influence of the nanostructure of Ti–TiN–(Ti,Al,Cr)N multilayer composite coating on tribological properties and cutting tool life. Tribology International. 2020. Vol. 150. 106388.
9. Smyrnova K., Sahul M., Haršáni M., Pogrebnjak A., Ivashchenko V., Beresnev V., et al. Microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of advanced layered WN/MeN (Me=Zr, Cr, Mo, Nb) nanocomposite coatings. Nanomaterials. 2022. Vol. 12. No. 3. 395.
10. Maksakova O. V., Zhanyssov S., Plotnikov S., Konarski P., Budzynski P., Pogrebnjak A. et al. Microstructure and tribomechanical properties of multilayer TiZrN/TiSiN composite coatings with nanoscale architecture by cathodic-arc evaporation. Journal of Materials Science. 2021. Vol. 56. pp. 5067–5081.
11. Polyanskii M. N., Savushkina S. V. Lateral layer-by-layer nanostructuring of thermal barrier coatings of zirconium dioxide during plasma spraying. Journal of Surface Investigation. X-ray, Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques. 2014. Vol. 8. No. 1. pp. 144–148.
12. Zhang L., Shen Y.-Q., Zhao Y.-M., Chen S.-N., Ouyang X., Zhang X., et al. Structure control of high-quality TiAlN monolithic and TiAlN/TiAl multilayer coatings based on filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. Surfaces and Interfaces. 2023 Vol. 38. 102836.
13. Aouadi S. M., Singh D. P., Stone D., Polychronopoulou K., Nahif F., Rebholz C., Muratore C., Voevodin A. A. Adaptive VN/Ag nanocomposite coatings with lubricious behavior from 25 to 1000 °С. Acta Materialia. 2010. Vol. 58. No. 16. pp. 5326–5331.
14. Wang Z., Li X., Wang X., Cai S., Ke P., Wang A. Hard yet tough V–Al–C–N nanocomposite coatings: microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties. Surface and Coatings Technology. 2016. Vol. 304. pp. 553–559.
15. Zaitsev A. N. Antifriction characteristics of the magnetron sputtered MoS2 coating of ITER blanket module bolted joints in high vacuum at elevated temperature T = 250 °С. Vacuum. 2024. Vol. 230. Part A. 113615.
16. Liu C., Gu X., Yang L., Song X., Wen M., Wang J., Li Q., Zhang K., Zheng W., Chen C. Ultralow-friction and ultralow-wear TiN–Ag solid solution coating in base oil. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 2020. Vol. 11. No. 5. pp. 1614–1621.
17. Blinkov I. V., Volkhonskii A.O., Laptev A.I., et al. Ceramic-metallic (TiN–Cu) nanostructured ion-plasma vacuum-arc coatings for cutting hard-alloy tools. Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals. 2014. Vol. 55. No. 5, pp. 489–493.
18. Ye F., Sun X. Nanoindentation response analysis of TiN–Cu coating deposited by magnetron sputtering. Progress in Natural Science: Materials International. 2018. Vol. 28. No. 1. pp. 40–44.
19. Guleryuz C. G., Krzanowski J. E., Veldhuis S. C., Fox-Rabinovich G. S. Machining performance of TiN coatings incorporating indium as a solid lubricant as placeholders for microreservoir formation. Surface and Coatings Technology. 2009. Vol. 203. No. 20–21. pp. 3370–3376.
20. Lozovan A. A., Betsofen S. Y., Savushkina S. V., Lychovetsky M. A., Lesnevsky L. N., Nikolaev I. A., Kubatina E. P. Influence of sputtering geometry and conditions on the structure and properties of the TiN–Pb solid lubricating coatings fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering of two separate targets. Russian Metallurgy (Metally). 2022. No. 11. pp. 1441–1448.
21. Lesnevskii L. N., Tyurin V. N., Ushakov A. M. Method for formation of composite solid-lubricating coatings on working surfaces of frictional units. Patent 2416675 RF. 20.04.2011.
22. Lozovan A., Savushkina S., Lyakhovetsky M., Nikolaev I., Betsofen S., Kubatina E. Investigation of Structural and Tribological Characteristics of TiN Composite Ceramic Coatings with Pb Additives. Coatings. 2023. Vol. 13. No. 8. 1463.
23. Guo H., Lu C., Zhang Z., et al. Comparison of microstructures and properties of VN and VN/Ag nanocomposite films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. Applied Physics A. 2018. Vol. 124. 694.
24. Kumar A., Mulik R. S. Improving tribological behavior of titanium nitride (TiN) hard coatings via zirconium (Zr) or vanadium (V) doping. Tribology International. 2023. Vol. 189. 108997.
25. Grigoriev S. et al. Investigation of the properties of Ti–TiN–(Ti, Al, Nb, Zr)N composite coating and its efficiency in increasing wear resistance of metal cutting tools. Surface and Coatings Technology. 2021. Vol. 421. 127432.
26. Cai Z., Wang Z., Hong Y., Lu B., Liu J., Li Y., Pu J. Improved Tribological Behavior of Plasma-Nitrided AlCrTiV and AlCrTiVSi High-Entropy Alloy Films. Tribology International. 2021. Vol. 163. 107195.
27. Lo W.-L., Hsu S.-Y., Lin Y.-C., Tsai S.-Y., Lai Y.-T., Duh J.-G. Improvement of High Entropy Alloy Nitride Coatings (AlCrNbSi-TiMo)N on Mechanical and High Temperature Tribological Properties by Tuning Substrate Bias. Surface and Coatings Technology. 2020. Vol. 401. 126247.
28. YABmaz A. M., Çiçek H., Duran S., Gülten G., EfeoClu D. Investigation of hardness, tribological and adhesion properties of TiAlNiVN HEA films heat treated at different temperatures. Tribology International. 2024. Vol. 197. 109739.
29. von Fieandt K., Paschalidou E.M., Srinath A., Soucek P., Riekehr L., Nyholm L., et al. Multi-component (Al,Cr,Nb,Y,Zr)N thin films by reactive magnetron sputter deposition for increased hardness and corrosion resistance. Thin Solid Films. 2020. Vol. 693. 137685.
30. Hsieh M. H., Tsai M. H., Shen W. J., Yeh J. W. Structure and properties of two Al–Cr–Nb–Si–Ti high-entropy nitride coatings. Surface and Coatings Technology. 2013. Vol. 221. pp. 118–123.
31. Lozovan A. A., Betzofen S. Ya., Savushkina S. V., Nikolaev I. A., Zhukov E. Yu., Babaitsev A. V. Structure and tribological characteristics of TiAlZrN–InSn system based coatings. Metals. 2025. No. 1. pp. 20–29.
32. Cai Q., Bai X., Pu J. Adaptive VAlCN-Ag composite and VAlCN/VN–Ag multilayer coatings intended for applications at elevated temperature. Journal of Materials Science. 2022. Vol. 57. pp. 8113–8126.
33. Gudala S., Ramesh M. R., Nallathambi S. S. Evolution of Microstructure and High-Temperature Tribological Performance of Self-Lubricating Nickel-Based Composite Tungsten Inert Gas Coatings. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance. 2021. Vol. 30. pp. 8080–8094.
34. Thornton J. A., Hoffman D. W. Stress-related effects in thin films. Thin Solid Films. 1989. Vol. 171. No. 1. pp. 5–31.
35. Suciu C. V., Uchida T. Modeling and Simulation of the Fretting Hysteresis Loop. Proceedings of the 3PGCIC 2010, International Conference on P2P. Fukuoka, Japan, 2010. p. 560.
36. Pettersson M., Skjoldebrand C., Filho L., Engqvist H., Persson C. Morphology and dissolution rate of wear debris from silicon nitride coatings. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering. 2016. Vol. 2. No. 6. pp. 998–1004.