Patent ID: 7438769

Claim:
A method for diffusing titanium and nitride into a base material comprising: providing a base material having a coating thereon, wherein said base material includes a microstructure including voids and said coating has a microstructure including voids contained therein; providing a salt bath which includes sodium dioxide and a salt selected from the group consisting of sodium cyanate and potassium cyanate; dispersing metallic titanium formed by electrolysis of a titanium compound, in said bath; heating the salt bath to a temperature ranging from about 430° C. to about 670° C.; and soaking the coated material in the salt bath for at least about 10 minutes such that titanium and nitrogen diffuses into at least some of the voids of the microstructure of said coating and into at least some of the voids of the microstructure of said base material to form a titanium network therebetween.