CAE-PVD synthesis and characterization of titanium-based biocompatible coatings deposited on titanium alloy for biomedical application

Abstract

• A compact and uniform layers (TiO 2 and TiN) was obtained on the TiAl6V4 substrate with CAE-PV Deposition. • Multi-pass scratch test was applied study wear resistance of coatings. • The methodology well reveals the various damage mechanisms under loading conditions. • With multi-pass scratch, TiN coating exhibited an ability to hardening process under high sliding conditions. • Multi-pass scratch provides an approach to fast investigation of friction and wear resistance of TiN coating. Cathodic arc evaporation vacuum deposition (CAE-PVD) presents an efficient process for the synthesis of coatings with controlled properties. In this work, we have developed TiN biocompatible layer on the TiAl 6 V 4 titanium alloy by CAE-PVD. The choice of these coatings is based on the excellent resistance to corrosion and erosion, non-toxicity and excellent bioactivity. We focused our study on a characterization of the coating through microstructural observations, indentation tests, scratch and multi-scratch-tests. The results showed a dense and uniform morphology coupled with important mechanical and interfacial properties. The hardness of coating TiN was 15.04 GPa. Measuring adhesion by scratch-test showed that both coatings had a slightly different adhesion quality. The worked-out coating presented critical cohesion load of 3.8 N with a critical adhesion load that exceeds 13.7 N. Tribological properties have also been greatly improved, achieving very low coefficients of friction and wear rates compared to materials commonly used for medical implants.