Ni/TiC bilayered coatings are deposited on hot-working steel (H11) by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition and electroless technique. The TiC layer is deposited at 490 °C using a gas mixture of TiCl4, CH4, H2, and Ar, and a dense nanostructured TiC coating with minimum excessive carbon phases and low chlorine concentration is produced. The effects of the Ni intermediate layer on the microstructure, tribology, and corrosion behavior of the nanostructured TiC coating are investigated. The friction coefficient of the Ni/TiC bilayered coating (Ni thickness = 4 µm) at 500 cycles is much smaller than that of the coating without the Ni intermediate layer. The smallest friction coefficient is about 0.2, and the hardness values of the Ni/TiC bilayered samples with three different Ni layer thicknesses of 2, 4, and 6 µm are 2534, 3070, and 2008 Hv, respectively. The wear mechanism of the Ni/TiC bilayered coatings is abrasive induced by plastic deformation and fatigue during the sliding process. The smaller groove width on the 4-µm electroless nickel-Ni3P/TiC bilayered coating correlates with the larger H/E ratio and the 4-µm nickel/TiC bilayered sample shows the better wear resistance. The polarization resistance of the 6-µm electroless nickel-Ni3P/TiC coating in 0.05 M NaCl and 0.5 M H2SO4 increases by about 8 and 15 times, respectively. The Ni intermediate layer increases the toughness of the coating and adhesion between the hard coating and steel substrate thereby enhancing the tribological properties and corrosion resistance.
