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Study of the methane flow influence in the micro-tribology behavior of DLC coatings deposited by PECVD: a Raman analysis

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Abstract

This paper presents a Raman spectroscopy study of the influence of methane flow on the micro-tribological behavior of diamond-like carbon coatings deposited with an industrial plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. Results have shown a direct relationship between the methane flow and thickness of the coatings. The analysis of the Raman spectra and deposition parameters allowed establishing the influence of H content with the methane flow, the disorder level and estimation of the sp3 fraction on the carbon coatings. The micro-tribology tests showed a strong dependence of the wear resistance and hardness with Raman parameters. The coating deposited at 72-sccm methane flow presented a thickness of 1.7 µm and a sp3 fraction of 0.33. This sp3 fraction gave rise to a hardness of 24 GPa and an excellent wear resistance of 3.3 × 10–6 mm3 N−1 mm−1 for this DLC coating. Wear tests showed a swelling in the wear profiles on this coating, which was associated with the occurrence of a re-hybridization process.

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Acknowledgements

This research was possible, thanks to the economic support of the CONACYT with project number 240721: “ForteCarbono.” FJFR acknowledge the support from FOINS-CONACYT Project 2016-01-2488, and the VIEP-BUAP-2020 Project.

Funding

This research was possible, thanks to the economic support of the national council of science and technology of México (CONACYT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica Eléctrica, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán 1421, Olímpica, C.P. 44430, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

    César Daniel Rivera-Tello

  2. CONACYT-Instituto de Física, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Apdo. Postal J-48, 72570, Puebla, Puebla de Zaragoza, Mexico

    Francisco Javier Flores-Ruiz

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería de Proyectos, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán 1421, Olímpica, C.P. 44430, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

    M. Flores, O. Jimenez & I. Farías

  4. Termoinnova S.A. de C. V. Boulevard Central, 5000 int. 14, Parque industrial Atitalaquia, C.P. 42970, Atitalaquia, Hidalgo, Mexico

    J. Oseguera-Peña

  5. Tecnológico de Monterrey-CEM, Carretera al Lago de Guadalupe km 3.5, 52926, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Estado de México, Mexico

    J. Oseguera-Peña

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  1. César Daniel Rivera-Tello
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As the corresponding author, I CDRT, hereby confirm on behalf of all authors that: All authors have participated in (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) approval of the final version.

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Rivera-Tello, C.D., Flores-Ruiz, F.J., Flores, M. et al. Study of the methane flow influence in the micro-tribology behavior of DLC coatings deposited by PECVD: a Raman analysis. Carbon Lett. 31, 47–56 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-020-00148-8

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