Abstract
This study examines the effect of electron beam treatment (EBT) of Co–Cr substrate on the film growth mechanism, mechanical properties, and surface topography of TiN/TiO2 coatings deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The obtained results and processes that occurred during the deposition are discussed in the context of crystallographic principles, and special attention is paid to the crystallographic orientation and growth mechanism studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mechanical properties were investigated by means of nanoindentation and wear tests. The surface topography was evaluated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results obtained in the present study showed that polycrystalline TiN and anatase TiO2 phases were present in all cases. Electron beam treatment of Co–Cr substrate tended to form a reorientation of the microvolumes from (111) to (200) of TiN, leading to a change in the growth mechanism from three-dimensional (Volmer–Weber) to layer-by-layer (Frank–van der Merwe). It was found that the electron beam treatment process did not significantly affect the thickness of the coatings and the deposition rate. The treatment process led to an increase in surface roughness. The higher surface roughness after the EBT process should be appropriate to support cell growth and adhesion on the surface of the deposited bilayer coating. It was demonstrated that EBT of the substrate caused a decrease in hardness of the deposited coatings from 10 to 5 GPa. The observed decrease in hardness was attributed to the change in the preferred crystallographic orientation and film growth mechanism. The hardness of the bilayer coating after the application of EBT of the Co–Cr substrate was much closer to that of human bones, which means that severe stress shielding effect could not be expected. The evaluated coefficient of friction (COF) exhibited significantly lower values in the case of EBT of the substrate compared to the untreated Co–Cr material.
Highlights
Co–Cr alloys have a number of applications due to their good corrosion resistance, attractive mechanical properties, and biocompatibility
The results show that the electron beam treatment (EBT) of Co–Cr the EBT of Co–Cr substrate led to a decrease in the hardness from 10.706 GPa
The results obtained in the present study show the effect of electron beam treatment processing of
Summary
Co–Cr alloys have a number of applications due to their good corrosion resistance, attractive mechanical properties, and biocompatibility. These materials have received a lot of attention in the field of implant manufacturing [1,2,3]. Considerable attention has been paid to surface manufacturing of materials by high-energy fluxes (HEFs) (i.e., electron and laser beams). In these technologies, the electrons or photon fluxes interact with the surface of the sample, heat the treated area, and form a thermal distribution. The rate of heating and cooling can be characterized by quite high values
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