Preparation and Characterization of Plasma Cu Surface Modified Stainless Steel

Cu modified layer was prepared on the surface of AISI304 stainless steel by plasma surface alloying technique. The effects of processing parameters on the thickness, surface topography, microstructure and chemical composition of Cu modified layer were characterized using glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results show that the surface modified layer is a duplex layer (deposited + diffused layer) with thickness of about 26 mu m under the optimum process parameters. The modified layer is mainly composed of a mixture of Cu and expanded austenite phase. The ball-on-disk results show that the modified layer possesses low friction coefficients (0.25) and excellent wear resistance (wear volume 0.005x10(9) mu m(3)). The Cu modified layer is very effective in killing the bacteria S. aureus. Meanwhile, no viable S. aureus is found after 3 h (100% killed) by contact with the Cu alloyed surface.