Effects of N ₂ /O ₂ flow rate on the surface properties and biocompatibility of nano-structured TiO _x N _y thin films prepared by high vacuum magnetron sputtering

Abstract

NiTi shape memory alloys (SMA) have many biomedical applications due to their excellent mechanical and biocompatible properties. However, nickel in the alloy may cause allergic and toxic reactions, which limit some applications. In this work, titanium oxynitride films were deposited on NiTi samples by high vacuum magnetron sputtering for various nitrogen and oxygen gas flow rates. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results reveal the presence of different phases in the titanium oxynitride thin films. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) elemental mapping of samples after immersion in simulated body fluids (SBF) shows that Ni is depleted from the surface and cell cultures corroborate the enhanced biocompatibility in vitro.

Synthesis of biocompatible coating on Ni-Cr alloy by cathodic cage plasma processing technique as anti-pathogenic bacteria for medicinal applications

“…TiN acts as a stable ceramic barrier between corrosive body fluids and surgical implant biomaterials, increasing surface hardness, biocompatibility, and implant life time while lowering coefficient of friction, wear rate, and corrosion rate in biomedical applications (e Silva et al 2020, van Hove et al 2015. To combine the superior tribological properties of titanium nitride with the excellent barrier properties of titanium dioxide, a new compounds such as titanium oxynitride can be synthesized, which cover the defects of titanium nitride and provide a chemically more stable, corrosion-resistant, biocompatible barrier to metallic biomaterials (Piscanec et al 2004, Padmavathy et al 2011, Sehrish et al 2015, Pana et al 2020.…”