Annealing and N(2) Plasma Treatment to Minimize Corrosion of SiC-Coated Glass-Ceramics

To improve the chemical durability of SiC-based coatings on glass-ceramics, the effects of annealing and N(2) plasma treatment were investigated. Fluorapatite glass-ceramic disks were coated with SiC via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), treated with N(2) plasma followed by an annealing step, characterized, and then immersed in a pH 10 buffer solution for 30 days to study coating delamination. Post-deposition annealing was found to densify the deposited SiC and lessen SiC delamination during the pH 10 immersion. When the SiC was treated with a N(2) plasma for 10 min, the bulk properties of the SiC coating were not affected but surface pores were sealed, slightly improving the SiC’s chemical durability. By combining N(2) plasma-treatment with a post-deposition annealing step, film delamination was reduced from 94% to 2.9% after immersion in a pH 10 solution for 30 days. X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) detected a higher concentration of oxygen on the surface of the plasma treated films, indicating a thin SiO(2) layer was formed and could have assisted in pore sealing. In conclusion, post-deposition annealing and N(2) plasma treatment where shown to significantly improve the chemical durability of PECVD deposited SiC films used as a coating for glass-ceramics.