Microstructure, corrosion and tribological and antibacterial properties of Ti–Cu coated stainless steel

Abstract

A Ti–Cu coated layer on 316L stainless steel (SS) was obtained by using the Closed Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering (CFUBMS) system to improve antibacterial activity, corrosion and tribological properties. The microstructure and phase constituents of Ti–Cu coated layer were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GDOES). The corrosion and tribological properties of a stainless steel substrate, SS316L, when coated with Ti–Cu were investigated in a simulated body fluid (SBF) environment. The viability of bacteria attached to the antibacterial surface was tested using the spread plate method. The results indicate that the Ti–Cu coated SS316L could achieve a higher corrosion polarization resistance and a more stable corrosion potential in an SBF environment than the uncoated SS316L substrate. The desirable corrosion protection performance of Ti–Cu may be attributable to the formation of a Ti–O passive layer on the coating surface, protecting the coating from further corrosion. The Ti–Cu coated SS316L also exhibited excellent wear resistance and chemical stability during the sliding tests against Si3N4 balls in SBF environment. Moreover, the Ti–Cu coatings exhibited excellent antibacterial abilities, where an effective reduction of 99.9% of Escherichia coli (E.coli) within 12h was achieved by contact with the modified surface, which was attributed to the release of copper ions when the Ti–Cu coatings are in contact with bacterial solution.