Multi-property improvement of TiO2-WO3 mixed oxide films deposited on 316L stainless steel by electrophoretic method

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely employed in many domains, such as photo-catalysis, self-cleaning and bio-medical applications due to its photocatalytic properties and high chemical stability. However, its mechanical and tribological properties as well as its resistance to corrosion can be improved by the addition of the other elements. The aim of the present work is to study the impact of adding WO3 in TiO2-WO3 composites coating on the mechanical and tribological properties as well as on the corrosion resistance. In this work, TiO2-WO3 composites were obtained with using different amounts of WO3. Structural properties of the coatings were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Besides, mechanical properties were investigated by nano-indentation measurements. Micro-scratch tester was performed to evaluate the tribological properties. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of composite coating were measured through electrochemical tests. Obviously, thin film with the highest amount of tungsten (Ti50W50)Ox was characterized by the best mechanical properties compared to the result obtained for the pure TiO2 coating. In addition, the increase of the WO3 content in the coating allowed improving the tribological properties.