The Preparation and Properties of Multilayer Cu-MTa(2)O(5) Composite Coatings on Ti6Al4V for Biomedical Applications

For the enhancement of the anticorrosion and antibacterial performance of the biomedical alloy Ti6Al4V, a novel Cu incorporated multilayer Ta(2)O(5)ceramic composite coating Cu-Ta(2)O(5)/Ta(2)O(5)/Ta(2)O(5)-TiO(2)/TiO(2)/Ti (coating codeCu-MTa(2)O(5)) was developed by radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering. Meanwhile, to better display the multilayer Ta(2)O(5) coating mentioned above, a monolayer Ta(2)O(5) ceramic coating was deposited onto the surface of Ti6Al4V alloy as a reference. The surface morphology, microstructure, phase constituents, and elemental states of the coating were evaluated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The adhesion strength, wettability, anticorrosion and antibacterial properties of the coating were examined by a scratch tester, contact angle measurement, electrochemical workstations, and plate counting method, respectively. The results showed that the deposited coatings were amorphous and hydrophobic. Cu doped into the Ta(2)O(5) coating existed as CuO and Cu(2)O. A Ta(2)O(5)-TiO(2)/TiO(2)/Ti multi-interlayer massively enhanced the adhesion strength of the coating, which was 2.9 times stronger than that of the monolayer Ta(2)O(5)coating. The multilayer Cu-MTa(2)O(5) coating revealed a higher corrosion potential and smaller corrosion current density as compared to the uncoated Ti6Al4V, indicating the better anticorrosion performance of Ti6Al4V. Moreover, a 99.8% antibacterial effect of Cu-MTa(2)O(5) coated against Staphylococcus aureuswas obtained.