Microstructure and Wear Resistance of N-Doped TiO2 Coatings Grown on Stainless Steel by Plasma Surface Alloying Technology

N-doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) coatings were obtained by oxidation of titanium nitride coatings, which were prepared by the plasma surface alloying technique on stainless steel (SS). The microstructure of N-TiO2 coatings was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GDOES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Ball-on-disc sliding wear was applied to test and compare the tribological behaviors of the coatings and substrate. XRD patterns showed that anatase type TiO2 existed in the coatings after oxidation. GDOES showed that the resultant coatings had a layered structure, comprising of N-TiO2 layer at the top and a diffusion-type interface. Such a hybrid coatings system showed good adhesion with the substrate. According to XPS, residual N atoms partially occupied O atom sites in the TiO2 lattice. Uniform, continuous and compact coatings were observed by SEM images of coatings after oxidation. Under a load of 7.6 N, the coefficient of friction was in the range of 0.27–0.38 for the N-TiO2/Al2O3 systems and the wear rate of the coatings was only one-fourteenth of that for untreated 316L SS. N-TiO2 coatings displayed much better wear resistance and antifriction performance than SS substrate.