The Effect of TiO2, TiN, TiO2/TiN Thin Film Coatings on the Antibacterial Properties of Ti6Al4V Biomedical Alloy

Titanium (Ti) implants are materials that are widely used in dentistry and orthopedics. They have important properties such as corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, and mechanical properties, which are suitable for these applications and have given them increasing interest in medical and practical applications. In this research, the sputtered thin films coated medical titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) is an enhancement for the replacement of biological bones and teeth to become more corrosion-resistant and enhance antibacterial properties. The enhancement process was achieved by coating the alloy with materials with good medical application properties. Using a DC reactive sputtering with (300) watts of power sputtered to deposit one layer of TiO2, one layer of TiN, and multilayer film (TiO2/TiN) on Ti6Al4V alloy substrates. The structural properties, surface morphology, and antibacterial tests of the prepared samples were studied. The particles’ structural characteristics, arrangement, and distribution were obtained by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscope examinations. The results demonstrated particles of coating layers deposited at a sputtering power of 300 watts having a uniform, homogenous distribution. The results obtained by examining the antibacterial properties of (Ti6Al4V) samples before and after deposition with different types of thin films showed that the highest value of antibacterial properties was multilayer (TiN\TiO2) on Ti6Al4V alloy substrates.