During this research work, the wear and friction properties of TiN/TiC coatings produced with different manufacturing parameters were investigated against steel and zirconium counterparts. The coatings, which were deposited on WC–Co substrate, were characterized based on their microstructure, phase composition, and microhardness. The tribological behavior of the coatings was examined in accordance with ASTM G99 and ASTM G133 standards using pin-on-disc tests with steel and zirconium counterfaces, while the adhesion of the coatings was investigated with a modified scratch test. According to the results obtained from the experiments, the use of zirconium counterpart is advantageous even for coatings produced with different microhardness and layer thickness using the CVD method. The results show that the change in the friction coefficient can be well traced with properly chosen parameters, thereby determining the wear resistance of the coating.

This study, based on our previous research, aims to quantitatively determine the enhanced protection of austenitic stainless steels against pitting corrosion in NaCl solution by self-assembled molecular (SAM) layers, in their original form and after γ-irradiation. This study focuses on four stainless steels of varying compositions, covered by self-assembled undecenyl phosphonic acid layers. The metal dissolution in corrosion experiments was measured by a special, highly sensitive analytical technique using the inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The comparison of the dissolved metal ion concentrations measured in the presence of different metals with and without nanocoatings allowed the evaluation of the anticorrosion effectiveness of nanofilms as well as the importance of the alloying elements. The ICP-OES results demonstrated that the quality of layers have a significant impact on anticorrosion efficacy. The γ-irradiated self-assembled layers were the most effective in controlling the dissolution of stainless steels. The mechanisms of the inhibition in the presence of these nanolayers were elucidated by infrared spectroscopy. First of all, it revealed the differences in the adsorption of the undecenyl phosphonic acid self-assembled layer, both with and without γ-irradiation. The other important observation that confirmed the increased anticorrosion efficiency after γ-irradiation proved the formation of a more compact, polymer-like layer over the metal surface. The increased anticorrosion efficacy, defined as the enhancement in Pitting Resistance Equivalent Numbers (PRENs) in the presence of self-assembled layers (either pre- or post-γ-irradiation), can be documented.