Plasma Electrolytic Nitriding (PEN) is a cathodic atmospheric plasma process which has shown a promising deposition of metal coatings that exhibits a significant adhesion to the substrate as well as high deposition rates. The structure of tantalum alloy, microhardness and corrosion resistance behavior after cathodic plasma electrolytic nitriding (PEN) in electrolyte containing urea and distilled water were investigated. An Optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the phase composition of the modified layer and its surface morphology. The corrosion resistance properties of nitrided tantalum alloy are investigated. It was shown that various electrolytes provided metallic tantalum (Ta), TaN_0.43, TaN_0.1, Ta₄N, Ta₄N₅ and TaN phases and nitrogen solid solution in tantalum. The cathodic PEN with 78 wt% urea and 21.6 wt% distilled water had a microhardness of 1198.18 VHN, which was selected as the best sample in term of electrolyte composition.

等离子电解渗氮（PEN）是一种阴极大气等离子工艺，已显示出有希望的金属涂层沉积，该涂层表现出对基材的显着附着力以及高沉积速率。研究了钽合金的结构，在含尿素和蒸馏水的电解质中进行阴极等离子体电解渗氮（PEN）后的显微硬度和耐蚀性能。使用光学显微镜（OM），X射线衍射仪和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）表征改性层的相组成及其表面形态。研究了氮化钽合金的耐蚀性能。结果表明，各种电解质都能提供金属钽（Ta），TaN _0.43，TaN _0.1，Ta钽中存在₄ N，Ta ₄ N ₅和TaN相以及固溶氮。具有78 wt％的尿素和21.6 wt％的蒸馏水的阴极PEN具有1198.18 VHN的显微硬度，就电解质成分而言，它被选为最佳样品。