vacuum nitriding of electroless nickel coatings

Description

Electroless nickel coatings have high tribological and mechanical properties, as well as an good corrosion resistance, which makes them popular for high-tech applications. Moreover, the catalyic nature of their growth allows perfect conservation of the shape of the substrates, which is particularly interesting in a context of ‘near net shape’ production. The hardness of those coatings, particularly those that contain boron, is very high and can be improved by heat treatment. It has been recently proved that it’s possible to obtain a further increase of hardness by nitriding, that most probably leads to the formation of boron nitrides in the coating. The aim of the research is the investigation of nitriding of electroless nickel coatings in order to determine the optimal treatment conditions and to investigate the mechanisms that lead to the improvement of properties during the nitriding treatment.