INVESTIGATION OF BORON INFLUENCE ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF MULTICOMPONENT NANOSTRUCTURED TiCaPCON COATINGS

Abstract

Multicomponent nanostructured TiCaPCON–B coatings with 7,4–15,0 at.% of boron were obtained by magnetron sputtering. It was shown that all elements were uniformly distributed over the coating thickness. The TiCaPCON–B coatings revealed a dense columnar structure with a column width less than 80 nm. It was found that the introduction of boron changed the phase composition of the coatings, but had no significant effect on their morphology. The base of the TiCaPCON–B coatings consisted of free carbon and Ti(C, N), TiB 2 , BN phases. The study of mechanical properties revealed that the coatings had a relatively high hardness (20–24 GPa) and low Young’s modulus (213–231 GPa). The coatings exhibited hydrophilic properties within the 24-hour exposure to air. Depending on the boron content in the coating, its rate of release into normal saline was 17–24 mkg/(l·сm 2 ·day). In vitro biological studies showed 30–40 % improvement in bioactivity of coatings containing 12,7–15,0 at.% of boron as compared with titanium.