Textured hybrid nanocomposite coatings for surface wear protection of sports equipment

• Textured hybrid coating with a superhard base layer and a lubricating top layer achieved using PEPVD process.
• Hybrid coating structure and surface texturing improve the wear performance of the coating
• Surface texturing enhances coating adhesion by deflecting and arresting crack propagation
• The geometry of the surface texturing strongly influences the coating's wear behaviour

Surface treatment and coating are widely used to enhance the performance and wear life of industrial components. However, the development of high performance wear protective coatings for sports equipment is still a challenge, as the coatings are subjected to harsh conditions that require good coating adhesion and wear resistance. This work aims to develop a textured CrAlSiN plus carbon nanocomposite coating to improve the wear performance.Si wafer and stainless steel substrates were textured by photolithography and wet chemical etching. CrAlSiN plus carbon nanocomposite coatings were developed using a plasma enhanced physical vapour deposition (PEPVD) system. It was found that the textured nanocomposite coating demonstrated substantially improved adhesion strength, long-standing low friction coefficient and reduced volume loss rate, giving rise to significantly improved wear resistance.