Tribocorrosion behavior of TiBxCy/a-C nanocomposite coating in strong oxidant disinfectant solutions

• TiBxCy/a-C coatings improve tribological and corrosion properties of AISI 316L steel.
• Nanocomposite TiBxCy/a-C structured coatings prevent galvanic coupling with the steel.
• Friction against alumina decreases from 0.6 to 0.1 and wears one order of magnitude compared to steel.
• TiBxCy/a-C appears as an interesting protective coating for biomedical and food sectors.
• TiBxCy/a-C has a longer pseudo passive stage than AISI 316L in strong oxidant solution.

Corrosion and tribocorrosion studies of a TiBxCy/a-C coating deposited on AISI 316L steel have been performed in an aqueous solution of 0.26 vol.% acetic, 0.16 vol.% peracetic and 0.18 vol.% hydrogen peroxide (commercial product Oxonia 1 vol.%). The corrosion current density of the TiBxCy/a-C coating ranges on the same order as bare steel but with a significantly decreasing friction (0.1 vs. 0.6) and wear rate (~ 10 times lower). The compact microstructure of the coating hinders the access of the aggressive electrolyte to the substrate, preventing the onset of the corrosion attack, while maintaining an excellent tribological behavior in strong oxidant solutions.