Electrochemical and tribological properties of CrBCN coatings with various B concentrations in artificial seawater

CrBCN coatings with various B concentrations were deposited by using a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. Their electrochemical and tribological properties in artificial seawater were performed using a conventional three electrode cell and the ball-on-disk tribometer, respectively. The results showed that the CrBCN coatings' corrosion resistance increased continually when the CrB2 target current increased. Furthermore, the CrBCN coatings exhibited better tribological properties than the CrCN coatings. The lowest friction coefficient (0.15) and the lowest wear rate (1.8 × 10−7 mm3/Nm) were obtained simultaneously.