Structure and corrosion resistance of ZrN-Ag coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Formation of nanostructured coatings of transition-metal nitride by introducing a small content of silver (Ag) has been a good strategy for enhancing physical properties of the materials for medical application. In this study, ZrN-Ag coatings with different Ag atomic contents are deposited by DC unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the Ag atomic contents on the chemical composition, morphology and structure was characterized via energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD results showed that the addition of silver into a zirconium nitride generated a decrease in the crystallinity of the coatings, characterized by a decrease in intensity and a broadening of X-ray diffraction peaks. EDS results showed that coatings have 0%, 7% and 12% atomic in Ag contain. SEM results show us that the morphology changes from coliform to smoother structure with small silver dots, when silver content increases. The electrochemical behavior of the coatings in a ringer's lactate solution at 37 ° C was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). EIS results show that the better corrosion resistance is obtained for the coating with 7% atomic Ag and the corrosion resistance lower is ZrN to reference for day one and day nine. Finally, XPS results confirm that all coatings have oxide and oxynitrides in the surface of the coatings after the EIS test.