Sparkling touchdown

Abstract

Diamond-like carbon combines the properties of graphite and diamond to provide an inert, hard wearing, low-friction, thin-film barrier coating that can be deposited uniformly over a large area. Medical and electronic applications – including surgical implants and hard-disk heads - currently benefit from this versatile material, which has recently emerged into the limelight on the latest razor blades, and for high-performance manufacturing applications. Researchers at Brunel University and Hawker Pacific Aerospace, collaborating as part of an EPSRC sponsored Environmental Technology Engineering Doctorate (EngD) scheme, are investigating diamond-like carbon as a hard wearing, anti-corrosion coating on aircraft components, as an alternative to current techniques that rely on heavy metals.