Synthesis and characterization of Ni-doped TiN thin films deposited by jet electrodeposition

The Ni-doped TiN thin films were successfully prepared by jet electrodeposition in this paper. The microstructure, corrosion properties and mechanical deformation response of the films were studied by means of high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical workstation and triboindenter (TI) equipment. The results indicated that the Ni-doped TiN thin film fabricated at the TiN addition amount of 5 g/L, had an uniform and fine microstructure. The average particle sizes of nickel grains and TiN nanoparticles were 44.5 and 23.2 nm, respectively. The Ni-doped TiN thin film obtained at 5 g/L had the minimum corrosion potential and corrosion current values of −0.398 V and 1.08 × 10 − 3 mA/cm2, respectively. When the applied load was 1500 μN, the depths of the Ni-doped TiN thin films produced at 3 g/L, 5 g/L and 8 g/L were approximately 35, 28 and 30 μm, respectively. The nanohardness of the Ni-doped TiN thin film deposited at 5 g/L demonstrated the highest nanohardness (∼34.5 GPa), whereas the film prepared at 3 g/L had the lowest nanohardness (∼25.8 GPa). Subsequently to 4 sliding scans, the amounts of plastic deformation and wear damage in the Ni-doped TiN thin film prefabricated at 5 g/L were the lowest compared to the other films.