Study of the effect of process duration on the properties of ZnO-Ag coatings deposited by the HiPIMS method

Abstract

Zinc oxide coatings commonly known for their biocidal properties were co-sputtered with metallic silver. Coatings were deposited on iron substrates with High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) method for the following durations: 5, 20, 40 and 60 minutes. The influence of deposition time on surface morphology, chemical and phase composition, surface roughness and wettability were evaluated. The results showed that silver segregation was observed on the surface of the coating, with the amount of silver increasing with process duration, while phase composition of all coatings remains consistent. Studies of surface properties show all the ZnO-Ag coatings have low roughness and are highly hydrophobic, with slight increase of the values of these parameters with deposition time.