A novel biomedical TiN-embedded TiO2 nanotubes composite coating with remarkable mechanical properties, corrosion, tribocorrosion resistance, and antibacterial activity.

Tribocorrosion is a severe problem in dental implants, artificial joints, and other implants, and it will affect the long-term safety of the implants. To improve the deficiencies of titanium alloys, we combined physical vapor deposition technology and anodic oxidation to prepare TiN to embed TiO 2 nanotube composite coatings (NTNTs-TiN). Results show that the hardness of the NTNTs-TiN composite coatings reaches 33.2 ± 0.6 GPa, and the grains of the composite coatings were further refined. The NTNTs-TiN coating has the smallest average coefficient of friction (0.22) during tribocorrosion. The tribocorrosion resistance of NTNTs-TiN coating in SBF is increased by ∼44 and ∼2 times compared with Ti6Al4V alloy and TiN coating, respectively. The capillarity effect of the lower contact angle of NTNTs-TiN can form a continuous water-lubrication film at the interface between the counter-ball and coating and produce a lubrication film composed of Ca, Mg, and P, which reduces the coefficient of friction significantly. The NTNTs/TiN composite coating exhibits the best synergistic effect of wear and corrosion. In addition, the NTNTs-TiN coating also exhibits excellent antimicrobial and corrosion properties, which provides a new solution for the long-term safe use of implants in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]