Decorative hard coatings with improved corrosion resistance

In order to use brass coloured decorative coatings for outdoor applications and sanitary fittings which are exposed to highly corrosive environments t he corrosion resistance of reactively sputtered ZrN coatings is investigate d. The colour stability of ZrN layers is used to characterize the corrosion resistance after testing. It has been shown that the morphology of reactiv ely sputtered ZrN layers affect the corrosion resistance and hence the stab ility of the colour. The corrosion resistance increases with decreasing gra in size and surface roughness. However, it was not possible to avoid corros ion completely by changing the structure of the ZrN films. For complete cor rosion resistance of ZrN coatings, a new layer system based on ZrN was deve loped. Leaving the brass colour unchanged the new layer system possesses a high corrosion resistance and also improves the wear resistance of ZrN. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.