Tribocorrosion behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy after thermo-chemical treatment and DLC deposition for biomedical applications

摘要

Titanium alloys are widely used in implantology however they do not possess sufficient tribological properties to work a treat on high load-bearing medical applications. Deposition of low-friction carbon coatings is one of the most popular method for improving their tribological properties. Thermo-chemical treatments such as nitriding, oxidation or carburizing are also possible. This study presents a combined surface modification method in which carbon coating was synthesized on Ti6Al4V titanium alloy subjected to thermo-chemical treatment (oxidation or carburizing) prior the coating deposition. The most outstanding results were obtained for the oxidized and then DLC-coated samples. Application of the two-stage process enhanced low surface friction and increased coating durability, while maintaining high corrosion resistance at the same time.