The Significant Effect of Mechanical Treatment on Ceramic Coating for Biomedical Application

Titanium and its alloys are commonly preferred materials used for biomedical implants. However, these alloys have issues related to corrosion resistance as a result of the aggressive attack of human body fluids. Several researchers have attempted to produce a ceramic coating via physical vapour deposition (PVD). A PVD layer consists of pores, pinholes, and columnar growth that attack the substrate as an aggressive medium. The aim of this research is to evaluate the influence of ultrasonic vibration parameters on a TiN-coated biomedical Ti-13Zr-13Nb alloy. This study used TiN to formulate and coat disk-type samples in a fixed condition. Ultrasonic vibration at fixed frequencies was applied to TiN-coated samples for three sets of exposure times. The findings revealed that all TiN-coated samples exposed to ultrasonic vibration had improved corrosion resistance compared to untreated samples. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was employed to analyse sample's microstructures. The top parameter (16 kHz and 11 min) yielded the most compact coating. Ultrasonic vibration's hammering effect decreased the size of microchannels in the lining and reduced the rate of corrosion attack. The nanoindentation test showed that coated ultrasonic treated samples had a higher hardness/elasticity (H/E) ratio than untreated samples.