Investigation of mechanical and antibiotic effects on TiN films deposited on medical tools by PACVD

Summary form only given. Thin TiN(Titanium Nitride) layer is applied for variable medical tools and materials to improve not only wear and corrosion resistance but also biocompatibility and antibiosis. In this study, medical cutting tools and surgical instruments were coated with variable TiN films that were analyzed for mechanical and antibiotic properties. TiN film has been deposited by using the plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) technique. The PACVD process was performed in a bipolar pulsed DC discharge at 250Pa pressure under gas mixtures of TiCl/sub 4/, H/sub 2/, N/sub 2/ and Ar. Thickness of coating layers has been about 1.5gm. Critical load was determined in order to evaluate the adhesion of TiN to the substrate using the scratch tester. Morphology, edge and damage of TiN films were detected by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Phase transition in films was examined by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), and observed in patterns of TiN [110], TiN [111] and TiN [200]. The chemical analysis was done by the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Auger depth profiles indicate the peak concentration of Ti, N and Cl atoms in TiN layer are 51%, 44% and 4%, respectively. Corrosion resistance of TiN films has been estimated using hank´s solution, H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/, H/sub 3/PO/sub 4/, distilled water and NaOH solutions at various temperature, time, voltage, and concentration. Weight loss of TiN films was estimated to measure wear resistance after polishing in constant speed and time on the rotated polishing plate. Antibiosis property was analyzed via use of the culture treatment method of E-Coli bacteria.