Amorphous self-lubricant MoS2-C sputtered coating with high hardness

MoS2-C coatings with various carbon contents were deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering. Carbon concentration (from 40.9 at.% to 73.1 at.%) within the coatings was controlled by varying the number of MoS2 plates bonded to the carbon targets. Ti interlayer fabricated by a hybrid high power impulse magnetron sputtering was used to obtain excellent adhesion. By sputtering the composite target, the deposited coatings exhibited a typical amorphous structure feature which contributed to the high hardness of the coatings. Meanwhile, the friction coefficient of the composite coating was lower than 0.1 in the ambient air and exhibited high wear resistance. Furthermore, the composite coatings exhibited an increasing hardness (from 7.0 to 10.8 GPa) with increasing carbon content.