Study of Surface Modification of Niobium Caused by Nitriding and Cathodic Cage Deposition

In this work, plasma nitriding (PN) and cathode cage plasma deposition (CCPN) treatments were carried out with temperatures of 400 and 450 degrees C to evaluate the modifications caused on the surface of pure niobium samples. XRD, SEM, Vickers microhardness, and sphere-disk analyses were used to characterize the coatings' composition, morphology, hardness, and wear resistance. The results showed that the treated samples increased hardness and wear resistance, with the sample submitted to CCPN at 450 degrees C presenting the best tribological behavior.