Determination of electrochemical and wettability properties of TiN coated 316L stainless steel implant material by cathodic arc PVD method

In this study, TiN films were coated on the surface by cathodic arc physical vapor deposition (CAPVD) method in order to improve the corrosion resistance and hydrophobic properties of 316L stainless steel, which is used as a biomaterial. The surface morphology, surface composition, corrosion resistance, and wettability of the coated samples were characterized and the characterization of the coatings was done by XRD, SEM and EDS. After electrochemical experiments in simulated body fluid ( SBF) solution, it was observed that the corrosion resistance of the coating film increased. In addition, contact angle measurements were taken with distilled water, n-hexadecane, ethylene glycol, and SBF solutions to determine the wettability and free surface energy properties of untreated and coated samples. The hydrophobic and oleophobic properties of the surfaces were obtained after the coating film, and the contact angle value increased from 92° to 119° after the contact angle measurement with the SBF solution. According to the measured contact angle values, the surface free energy values of the untreated and TiN coated stainless steel samples were calculated as 26.7 mN/m and 18.5 mN/m, respectively, according to the measured contact angle values.