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.