Biocompatibility and electron microscopy studies of epitaxial nanolaminate (Al0.5Ti0.5)N/ZrN coatings deposited by Arc-PVD technique

The ability to combine layers with high mechanical strength and additional physicochemical properties, such as biocompatibility, makes the use of multilayer coatings attractive for various applications. The transition from single layer to nanolaminate architecture can improve the mechanical performance of the coatings by increasing the number of interfaces and decreasing the modulation period of the layers. The microstructural study of the nanolaminate (Al0.5Ti0.5)N/ZrN coating with a modulation period lambda of similar or equal to 20 nm was carried out using the TEM-HRTEM method. It was found that the coatings of (Al0.5Ti0.5)N/ZrN series consisted of two phases: the fcc-(Ti,Al) N solid solution obtained by isomorphic substitution of Ti atoms with Al ones in the TiN crystal lattice and the cubic ZrN phase. ZrN layers had a high texture structure with [111]-preferred growth texture and made a dominant effect on the nucleation and growth of (Al0.5Ti0.5)N layers. The epitaxial growth process was the most pronounced for fcc-(Ti,Al)N (111)parallel to fcc-(ZrN) (111) and fcc-(Ti,Al)N (200)parallel to fcc-(ZrN) (200) grains. Finally, the new coating demonstrated high biocompatibility, failure to toxicity and supported U2OS osteogenic cells proliferation within 7 days of cultivation.