Elevated temperature plasma nitriding and effects on electrochemical properties of steel

Abstract

Surface modification of tool steel had been performed by utilizing plasma nitriding at elevated temperature by varying the exposure time. The nitrided steel had shown significantly enhanced corrosion resistance properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) had revealed the presence of FexN (x = 2–3, 4) in the surface modified microstructure after nitriding. In an environment of NaCl potentiodynamic polarization and impedance (EIS) tests of steel with and without nitriding had been performed. Both these tests had shown the improved resistance to corrosion of the steel after nitriding.