Titan-Aluminum-Nitride
A titanium/aluminum/nitride coating increases the robustness and resistance to wear and tear of knife blades. The coating, also known by its abbreviation TiAIN, is a type of PVD coating.
The combination of titanium, aluminum and nitride is an improvement on the previously used titanium/nitride coating. A TiAIN coating has multiple layers, each no thicker than a few nanometers, with the overall coating achieving a thickness of 0.5 to 3 µm. Titanium/aluminum/nitride coatings are extremely hard and very smooth.
Their specific properties can be individually adapted by altering the ratios of aluminum and nitride. This coating is thermally and chemically stable and can be used at temperatures up to 800°C. In order to be suitable for the TiAIN coating process, the steel needs to react to annealing temperatures above 500°C, since the coating requires temperatures of 300 to 450°C. TiAIN has an appealing dark blue/gray color. The titanium/aluminum/nitride coating is a type of PVD coating. The letters PVD stand for physical vapor deposition. The term describes all coating methods in which the metallic coating material is made gaseous before being applied to the substrate, where it condenses and creates a protective layer. Contrary to the process of chemical vapor deposition, this process works according to physical, not chemical principles.
A PVD coating is just a few nanometers or micrometers thick and can consist of one or more layers. The application of a titanium/aluminum/nitride coating is the final step in the finishing process for high-quality knife blades. Just like all other PVD coatings, the TiAIN coating is very thin and doesn\'t change the dimensions of the blade.