Cr–Zr–N films have been synthesised using R.F reactive magnetron sputtering system on Si (100) wafer and XC100 steel substrate without heating. The structural, mechanical and friction coefficient evolution as a function of the Zr content were investigated by XRD, (EDS, WDS), WPS, XPS, SEM, AFM, nanoindentation, Scratch adhesion and pin-on-disc sliding wear tests. The results show, that, with increasing Zr content, the film structure changed with the coexistence of (Cr–N, Zr–N) crystallographic orientation mixture. The films formed a (Cr, Zr) N solid solution where Zr atoms substitute Cr atoms. CrN lattice parameter increased from 4.17 to 4.32 Å with the crystallite size refinement. The mechanical parameters (H, σ, E, H/E and H³/E²) were significantly improved in comparison to binary films, especially at 29 at.-% Zr. The friction and wear behaviour of the Cr–Zr (29 at.-% Zr)–N coating also showed a significant improvement.

The aim of the present research was focused on the study of the effect of replacing vanadium by niobium and iron on the tribological behavior of Hot Isostatic Pressed (HIPed) titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) biomaterial, using a ball-on-disk type Oscillating tribometer, under wet conditions using physiological solution conditions (Ringer solution) in accordance with the ASTMG 99, ISO 7148-1:2012, and ASTM G 133–95 standards. The tests were carried out under a normal load of 6 N, with an AISI 52100 grade steel ball as a counter face. The morphological changes and structural evolution of the nanoparticle powders using different milling times (2, 6, 12 and 18 h) were studied. The morphological characterization indicated that the particle and crystallite size continuously decreases with increasing milling time to reach the lowest value of 4 nm at 18 hours milling. The friction coefficient and wear rate were lower in the samples milled at 18 h (0.226, 0.297 and 0.423) and (0.66 x10-2, 0.87x10-2 and 1.51x10-2 µm3.N-1.µm-1) for Ti-6Al-4Fe, Ti-6Al-4Nb and Ti-6Al-4V, respectively. This improvement in friction and wear resistance is attributed to the grain refinement at 18 hour milling. The Ti-6Al-4Fe samples showed good tribological performance for all milling times

Applications of thin film technology have grown quickly, including thermal insulation, cuttingtools, solar cells, protection against oxidation and corrosion, and microelectronics. The use ofthermoelectric thin films, which have several advantages over bulky sensors (such as sensors of: heat flow,radiation, pressure, electric power, and thermocouples), is widespread. Chromium carbides are widelyattracted for industrial applications by their good hardness, high chemical stability, and toughness. Thepresence of carbon in the composition of chromium metal improves the hardness and the wear resistanceby lubricating effect. In this work, the chromium carbides films deposited from pure Cr target by the PVDmethod on steel substrates are developed and characterized. In this study, the samples are annealed undervacuum in a temperature range between 800 and 1000 °C. The improvement of the mechanical property ofthin Cr films is due in particular to the fact that the hardness and wear obtained in this temperature rangeare very important. The increase in hardness is attributed to the formation of hard binary Chromiumcarbides. However, its decrease was related with the diffusion of iron and the transformation of binarychromium carbides to ternary carbides at higher annealing temperatures.