Surface boriding of pure titanium was performed using dissolved salt impregnation to modify the surface hardness and improve wear performance. The effect of boriding temperature (950–1150 °C) on the microstructure, composition, and room-temperature tribological properties of the borided samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and ball-on-disc tribometry, respectively. Gibbs free energy was also calculated to evaluate the compounds generated during the boriding at different temperatures. After a detailed analysis of the crystal structures and the growth morphologies of TiB, the diffusion mechanisms for B atoms in TiB and TiB₂ were discussed in the present report. The boriding temperature had a large effect on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and room-temperature tribological behavior of the borided samples, attributed to the changes in the composition and the increased hardened layer under elevated boriding temperature. The modeling of layer growth kinetics was also discussed in this paper. The actual value of hardened layer thickness was compared to the calculated value, and the difference was analyzed. The fricative value of the borided samples showed a minimum value of 88.9 dB for a boriding temperature of 1050 °C. The depth and width of the wear tracks decreased gradually with increasing boriding temperature. The worn surface of the samples borided at higher temperatures showed very good wear resistance. A boriding condition of 1050 °C was considered optimal, as it provided sufficiently high surface hardness and a low fricative value to reduce vibrations during practical use.

Pure titanium was treated by atmospheric oxidation, and the effect of the treatment temperature on its performance was studied. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, wear testing, and scratch testing were used to evaluate the performance of the treated specimens. In order to evaluate the difficulty of compound formation during the different processing temperatures, Gibbs free energy was calculated. The experimental results show that the surface hardness of the sample can be improved at a certain oxidation treatment temperature. When the processing temperature is 850 °C, the surface hardness reaches the maximum value. The results of the scratch testing show that the hardened layer produced at this processing temperature has excellent peeling resistance. In addition, the wear depth and wear width are also at their minimum values at this processing temperature. Since the specimen treated at a processing temperature of 850 °C provides sufficiently high surface hardness and wear resistance in this research report, it is considered to be the optimal condition during practical application.

A series of ZrN-Ag nano-composite films were deposited using the RF magnetron sputtering system. The microstructure, mechanical properties and tribological performances were investigated. The results showed that ZrN-Ag films were composed of face-centered cubic (fcc)-ZrN and face-centered cubic (fcc)-Ag. With the increase of Ag content, the hardness of ZrN-Ag composite film increased rapidly and then decreased rapidly. The maximum hardness value was 22.8 GPa at 6.1at.% Ag. At room temperature, the coefficient of friction (Cof.) of ZrN-Ag films were lower than the ZrN film. During 25-500°C, the Cof. of ZrN-Ag films at 29.16 at.% Ag were lower than ZrN film, while the wear rate were higher than the ZrN film. In summary, the addition of Ag improved the hardness, and decreased the Cof. of the ZrN-Ag during 25-500°C.

Surface processing of pure titanium was performed using a carbon sheet to increase the surface hardness and improve tribological property. The effect of processing temperature (750–950 °C) for 2 h on the structure, mechanical and room-temperature tribological properties of the treated samples was investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and ball-on-disk tribometry, respectively. The Gibbs free energy was also calculated to evaluate the compounds generated at different processing temperatures. As a result of the examination, the hardened layer was mainly composed of titanium oxide and titanium carbide. With the increasing processing temperatures, the thickness of the hardened layer increased first and then decreased gradually. It was also revealed that the surface hardness was increased first and then decreased as the processing temperature increased. The fricative value of the treated samples showed a minimum value of 84.1 dB for a processing temperature of 850 °C. The depth and width of the wear tracks increased first and then decreased gradually with the increasing processing temperatures. The worn surface of the treated samples at higher temperatures showed a very good wear resistance. A processing temperature at 850 °C is considered optimal as it provides sufficiently high hardness and a low coefficient of friction to reduce fricative during practical use.