Novel synthesis of molybdenum nitride/oxide on AISI-316 steel assisted with active screen plasma treatment

In this work, novel synthesis of molybdenum nitride/oxide coating on AISI-316 is attained by active screen plasma (ASP) treatment, using molybdenum active screen (AS). Molybdenum nitride is synthesized in N2-H2 environment, while oxidation is carried out in O2-H2 and O2-Ar environment. The synthesized coatings are characterized by microhardness tester, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results show a successful synthesis of coating with improved hardness. This study illustrates that using molybdenum active screen, molybdenum nitride/oxide coating can be produced and industrial compatibility of this technique increases the effectiveness of these results on wide-scale engineering applications.