I-Corps: Super-Hard and Low-Friction Coatings for Automotive Manufacturing

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力源于开发能够提供必要硬度和其他化学特性的新型碳膜涂层。这种优质涂料预计将有数十亿美元的潜在市场。在汽车应用中，在发动机表面和活塞环上涂覆高性能碳膜将提高燃油效率，并大幅减少二氧化碳和氮氧化物的排放，从而有利于环境保护。低摩擦和超硬碳涂层在刀具、轴承、玻璃和电极上的广泛应用将大大降低制造成本和地球资源的消耗。该i-Corps项目旨在确定一种正在申请专利的磁增强阴极弧等离子体技术的商业可行性，该技术能够在发动机衬套和轴承等工作部件的内外表面进行涂层。该技术克服了常规物理气相沉积的视距限制。一个设计得当的磁场有效地限制了弧等离子体。单弧电流可达100安培以上，使靶材局部汽化。蒸发后的颗粒具有较高的动能，使涂层与基材表面具有良好的附着力。当使用石墨靶时，高能碳物种形成具有多种极端性能组合的强键：1)硬度超过6000维克(接近钻石)，而304不锈钢的硬度约为200维克；2)低摩擦系数约0.1，与特氟龙的值相似；以及3)卓越的化学惰性和耐腐蚀性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project stems from developing novel carbon film coatings that provide necessary hardness and other chemical characteristics. Such superior coatings are expected to have a potential market of billions of dollars. In automotive applications, coating the engine surfaces and the piston rings with the high-performance carbon films will improve the fuel efficiency and substantially reduce Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide emissions to benefit the environment. Broad applications of the low-friction and super-hard carbon coatings on cutting tools, bearings, glass, and electrodes will greatly reduce the manufacturing costs and the consumption of the earth's resources. This I-Corps project aims to determine the commercial viability of a patent-pending magnetically enhanced cathodic arc plasma technology that is capable of coating the inner and outer surfaces of working components, such as engine liners and bearings. This technology overcomes the limitation of line-of-sight in conventional physical vapor depositions. A properly designed magnetic field efficiently confines the arc plasma. A single arc current can reach over 100 Amps to locally vaporize the target materials. The evaporated particles have high kinetic energies, leading to excellent adhesion of the coatings to the substrate surfaces. When a graphite target is used, the energetic carbon species form strong bonds with a combination of multiple extreme properties: 1) a hardness value of over 6000 Vickers (close to diamond) compared with ~200 Vickers of 304 stainless steel; 2) a low friction coefficient of ~0.1, similar to the value of Teflon; and 3) a superior chemical inertness and resistance to corrosion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.