Decorative and protective coating

Abstract

An article is coated with a multi-layer coating having the appearance of brass, nickel and stainless steel. The coating comprises a nickel or polymer base coat on the surface of said article, a chromium layer and vapor deposited on the chromium layer, a refractory metal nitride or nitride and oxide, or refractory metal alloy nitride or nitride and oxide that mimic the colors of brass, nickel and stainless steel. An oxide-containing strike layer comprised of nano-sized refractory metal crystals and/or preferentially oriented refractory metal phase with the refractory oxide for precipitation hardening. A refractory oxide layer intermediate the refractory metal strike layer and the stack layer comprised of alternative layers of refractory metal, substoichiometric refractory nitride and stoichiometric refractory nitride. This intermediate oxide layer acts as a non-conductive barrier to improve corrosion and pitting resistance. An ultra-thin refractory oxide top layer to provide further protection against corrosion.

1 . An article having on at least a portion of its surface a multi-layer coating having the appearance of brass, nickel and stainless steel comprising:
 a basecoat layer;   an oxide containing strike layer comprised of a refractory metal and a low percentage of refractory oxide rendering a nano-size refractory metal crystals crystals up to 50 nm in size or oriented refractory metal phase with the refractory oxide acting as precipitation hardening particles up to 80 nm in size;   a stack layer comprised of alternative layers of refractory metal, substoichimetric refractory nitride and stoichiometric refractory nitride;   an intermediate refractory oxide layer between the oxide strike layer and the stack layer; and   a refractory nitride color layer.   
     
     
         2 . An article according to  claim 1  wherein the basecoat layer is a nickel layer. 
     
     
         3 . An article according to  claim 1  wherein the basecoat layer is a polymer layer. 
     
     
         4 . An article according to  claim 1  including a chrome layer intermediate the basecoat layer and the oxide strike layer. 
     
     
         5 . An article according to  claim 1  including an ultra-thin refractory oxide top layer on top of the color layer. 
     
     
         6 . An article according to  claim 1  wherein the stack layer is alternatively mixed with a layer of zirconium metal and substoichiometric zirconium nitride and a layer stoichiometric zirconium nitride. 
     
     
         7 . An article according to  claim 1  wherein oxide-containing strike layer contains nano-sized refractory metal crystals or preferentially oriented refractory metal phase with 2 to 30 atomic percent of the refractory oxide. 
     
     
         8 . An article according to  claim 1  wherein the intermediate oxide layer is a stoichiometric oxide or substoichiometric oxide having an oxygen content between 2 to 67 atomic percent. 
     
     
         9 . An article according to  claim 5  wherein the ultrathin refractory oxide top layer provides corrosion and pitting resistance.