Frictional Corrosion Behavior of Nitrogen-Mediated (CrNbTiZrMo)N_{<italic>x</italic>} High-Entropy Nitride Films in Artificial Seawater

Corrosion and wear are the two key problems faced by mechanical transmission components in the Marine environment, which have become the "bottleneck" restricting the development of Marine engineering and equipment. To meet the corrosion protection and lubrication needs of mechanical transmission components in Marine environments, a series of (CrNbTiZrMo)Nx high-entropy nitride (HEN) films were prepared by magnetron sputtering technology by adjusting the nitrogen flow rate in this work. A series of (CrNbTiZrMo)Nx high-entropy nitride (HEN) films were prepared by magnetron sputtering technology by adjusting the nitrogen flow rate. The effects of nitrogen flow rate on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electrochemical properties and tribological properties of the films were studied. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was applied to track the surface and cross section morphology of the high entropy films. The phase was analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Optical microscope (OM) was used to observe the morphology of the films before and after polarization as well as the wear spots of the friction pairs. The hardness and elastic modulus of the film were measured by nanoindentation instrument. The binding force between the film and the substrate was measured by MFT-4000 scratch meter. The action potential scanning test of HEN thin film in artificial seawater (3.5% NaCl solution) was carried out by electrochemical workstation to evaluate the corrosion resistance of HEN thin film in simulated seawater. The friction coefficient in simulated seawater and dry friction environment was characterized by reciprocating friction test on a tribometer (MFT-EC4000). The results showed that the film grows in columnar crystal pattern and changes from amorphous structure to nanocrystalline structure with the increase of nitrogen flow. The binding force between the film and the substrate was about 40 N. When the nitrogen flow rate was 20 sccm, the film showed the best frictional corrosion performance in artificial seawater, with the highest self-corrosion potential of 0.171 V, and the friction coefficient was 0.143 in dry friction environment and 0.119 in artificial seawater.