Nanostructured TiN coating prepared by reactive plasma spraying in atmosphere

In the present study, the nanostructured TiN coatings are obtained by means of reactive plasma spraying in the air. The XRD analysis shows the coating was mainly composed of TiN (max. 86.3%) and a small quantity of Ti3O. Their microstructures were observed by SEM and TEM. The TEM pictures show the TiN coatings were composed of the nanoscaled grains (range from 70 to 90 nm), and the Scherrer equation analysis on the average grain size corresponded with that result. The effects on the average grain size also were studied by changing the spraying power and the spraying distance.