Structure and properties of TiZrNb-based coatings for enhancing the corrosion resistance of nickel-titanium implants
摘要
This study investigates the influence of deposition parameters on the microstructure and physical-mechanical properties of TiZrNb-based vacuum ion-plasma coatings applied to nickel-titanium (TiNi) implants. Reducing the arc current from 110 to 90 A was found to increase the volume fraction of the β‑phase and decrease the α‑ and α′′-phases. This phase transformation correlates with a decrease in the elastic modulus (E) of a monolithic Ti18Zr13Nb (at %) coating from 90 to 72 GPa and a reduction in nanohardness (H) from 5.4 to 4.3 GPa. Consequently, the mechanical properties of the coating approach those of the underlying TiNi substrate. The results demonstrate that creating a functionally graded coating structure by saturating a pre-deposited Ti18Zr13Nb layer with nitrogen increases nanohardness H to 6.5 GPa. Furthermore, fabricating a graded multilayer architecture with alternating Ti18Zr13Nb and mononitride (Ti, Zr, Nb) N layers, with the nitride layer thickness gradually increasing from the substrate to the surface, increases the nanohardness to 12.5 or 16.4 GPa, depending on the specific architecture of the coating. This study also found that depositing these functionally graded coatings, which have a gradual increase in hardness from the substrate to the surface, improves the resistance of TiNi implants to pitting and fretting corrosion in a 0.9% NaCl solution.