Adhesion improvement of diamond coatings on cemented carbide with high cobalt content using PVD interlayer

At present, diamond coating is usually deposited on cemented carbide (WC-Co) tool with low Co content (Co ≤ 6 wt.%). It is more difficult to deposit diamond coating on WC-Co with high Co content because of the strong catalytic effect of Co. However, WC-Co tools with high Co content (Co ≥ 6 wt.%) are more widely used in difficult-to-cut materials machining because of their higher strength and better ductility. In this paper, the research was carried out on the adhesion performance of diamond coating on WC-Co (Co 10 wt.%). The deposition of diamond coating was conducted in hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) system with the presence of the strong carbon-forming metallic interlayer (Nb, Cr or Ta), which was prepared using physical vapor deposition (PVD) on WC-Co substrate after chemical etching through a two-step process (Murakami solution and Caro's acid), which is a general way to treat the WC-Co substrate before growth of diamond coating. The results showed that the diamond films grown on the above treated WC-Co substrate have higher nucleation density, purity and adhesion strength than those on WC-Co substrates pretreated only using PVD interlayer or chemical etching. The PVD interlayer restrains the diffusion of Co as a result of high substrate temperature during the diamond film deposition, and consequently prevents the formation of the loosened layer induced by the removal of Co binder phase in the WC-Co substrate. The results also indicated that Nb interlayer leads to the most adhesion improvement of diamond films on the WC-Co inserts among the Nb, Ta and Cr interlayers.

► Strong carbide-forming element interlayer after chemical removal of Co enhances the adhesion of diamond coating on WC-Co.
► Ta is not fit for the intermediate layer because of its poor adhesion to WC-Co substrate.
► Nb interlayer leads to the most adhesion improvement of diamond film on WC-Co inserts.