Laser Structuring and DLC Coating of Elastomers for High Performance Applications.

Even though hard, low friction coatings such as diamond like carbon (DLC) would be beneficial for the performance and longevity of rubber seals, a crucial challenge remains. The elastic mismatch of rubber substrate and DLC coating prevents a fracture free coating application. In this work, a nature inspired approach is applied to render the stiff coating flexible and resilient to delamination at the same time by direct patterning.

Investigations of the Deuterium Permeability of As-Deposited and Oxidized TiAlN Coatings.

Aluminum containing MAX (MAX) phase materials have attracted increasing attention due to their corrosion resistance, a pronounced self-healing effect and promising diffusion barrier properties for hydrogen. We synthesized TiAlN coatings on ferritic steel substrates by physical vapor deposition of alternating Ti- and AlN-layers followed by thermal annealing. The microstructure developed a {0001}-texture with platelet-like shaped grains.