Study on the Biocompatibility of TiN/TiO2 Bilayer Coatings Deposited by DC Magnetron Sputtering on Stainless Steel

Multilayer coatings such as TiN/TiO2 are widely used in modern medicine and dentistry. They improve the mechanical properties of the substrate and its biocompatibility. The substrates can be different kind of metals, alloys which are used for manufacturing implants, rotary dental instruments, endodontic instruments, joints, etc. It is expected that materials will be universally accepted and will not cause harm or injury to the surrounding structures. Therefore, in this study. TiN/TiO2 multilayer coatings were deposited on stainless steel 304 by DC magnetron sputtering. The structure of the coatings was observed by XRD (X-ray diffraction) with Cu K alpha characteristic radiation (1.54 angstrom). The measurements were conducted in Bragg-Brentano (B-B) symmetrical mode, from 20 degrees to 80 degrees at 2 theta scale. The step has been chosen 0.1 degrees with counting time 10 sec. per step. The biocompatibility of the coatings was studied by CCK-8 assay of osteoblastic MG63 cells, incubated for 72 hours on the samples. Our results showed that the obtained TiN/TiO2 multilayer coatings have stoichiometries and don't suppress cell growth and spreading which means that the coatings are not cytotoxic and they are biocompatible.