Antibacterial Properties of Cu-Doped TiN Composite Coatings on Ti6Al4V Alloy Substrate

The surfaces of Ti6 Al4 V alloy,an advanced surgical wound repairing material,were modified with Cu-doped TiN-coatings synthesized by magnetron co-sputtering of Cu and TiN targets.The influence of the Cu-content on the corrosion-resistance,antibacterial properties and toxicity of the Cu-doped TiN coatings was investigated with scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,energy dispersive spectroscope,atomic force microscopy and biological simulation test.The results show that depending on the Cu-content,the Cu-doping has a major impact.To be specific,an increase of Cu-content improved the antibacterial properties against E.coli,decreased the release of toxic ions,such as V⁴⁺ and Al³⁺,and reduced the corrosion resistance,possibly because of the formation of columnar grains.We suggest that the Cu-doped TiN coatings be of some technological interest for development of surgical wound repairing material of TiN-coated Ti6 Al4 V alloy.