Ag-Ti(C,N)-based coatings for biomedical applications : influence of silver con...

• Author(s): Manninen, N. K. ; Galindo, R. Escobar ; Benito, N. ; Figueiredo, N. M. ; Cavaleiro, A. ; Palacio, C. ; Carvalho, S.
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/27538
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Ag–TiCN coatings were deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering and their structural and morphological properties were evaluated. Compositional analysis showed the existence of Ag–TiCN coatings with different Ag/Ti atomic ratios (ranging from 0 to 1.49). The structural and morphological properties are well correlated with the evolution of Ag/Ti atomic ratio. For the samples with low Ag/Ti atomic ratio (below 0.20) the coatings crystallize in a B1-NaCl crystal structure typical of TiC0.3N0.7. The increase in Ag/Ti atomic ratio promoted the formation of Ag crystalline phases as well as amorphous CNx phases detected in both x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Simultaneously to the formation of Ag crystalline phases and amorphous carbon-based phases, a decrease in TiC0.3N0.7 grain size was observed as well as the densification of coatings.