Superabrasive elements including ceramic coatings and methods of leaching catalysts from superabrasive elements

1. A method of processing a polycrystalline diamond element, comprising: depositing a vaporized material over a selected portion of a polycrystalline diamond element to form a protective coating over the selected portion, the polycrystalline diamond element comprising a polycrystalline diamond table bonded to a cemented carbide substrate, the protective coating comprising a ceramic material: exposing at least a portion of the polycrystalline diamond element to a leaching solution such that the leaching solution contacts an exposed surface region of the polycrystalline diamond table and at least a portion of the protective coating; removing the polycrystalline diamond element from the leaching solution; wherein the protective coating is substantially impermeable with the leaching solution.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing the vaporized material over the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element comprises depositing the vaporized material over the selected portion by at least one of physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the physical vapor deposition comprises at least one of evaporative physical vapor deposition, electron beam physical vapor deposition, sputter physical vapor deposition, cathodic arc physical vapor deposition, and pulsed laser physical vapor deposition.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the chemical vapor deposition comprises at least one of atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition, low-pressure chemical vapor deposition, high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition, aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition, direct liquid injection chemical vapor deposition, microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer chemical vapor deposition, metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition, and hot wire chemical vapor deposition.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing the vaporized material over the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element comprises depositing the vaporized material over the selected portion by at least one of electroless deposition, spraying, and flame-spraying.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing the vaporized material over the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element comprises rotating the polycrystalline diamond element relative to a vaporized material source.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising drying the protective coating.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising bonding the protective coating to the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the protective coating from the polycrystalline diamond element.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective coating has a thickness of between approximately 1 and 10 μm.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising surrounding at least a portion of the protective coating with a substantially inert layer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the selected portion comprises at least a portion of a surface of the polycrystalline diamond table and at least a portion of a surface of the substrate.

13. A method of processing a polycrystalline diamond element, comprising:

sintering a polycrystalline diamond element comprising a polycrystalline diamond table bonded to a cemented carbide substrate;

forming a ceramic coating over a selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element subsequent to sintering the polycrystalline diamond element;

exposing at least a portion of the polycrystalline diamond element to a leaching solution such that the leaching solution contacts an exposed surface region of the polycrystalline diamond table and at least a portion of the ceramic coating;

removing the polycrystalline diamond element from the leaching solution.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the ceramic coating comprises at least one of a nitride material and a carbide material.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the ceramic coating comprises at least one of TiN, CrN, TiAlN, CrC, AlTiN, ZrN, and TiCN.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein forming a ceramic coating over the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element comprises depositing a vaporized material over the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the ceramic coating from the polycrystalline diamond element.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising bonding the ceramic coating to the selected portion of the polycrystalline diamond element.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising surrounding at least a portion of the ceramic coating with a substantially inert layer.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the ceramic coating has a thickness of between approximately 1 and 10 μm.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected portion includes a portion of the cemented carbide substrate.

22. The method of claim 13 , wherein the selected portion includes a portion of the cemented carbide substrate.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cemented carbide substrate comprises a cemented tungsten carbide material.