Designing the Chemical Composition of a Coating of a Multi-Component Zr-Based Alloy with a Glass Structure on a 316 Stainless Steel Substrate by Magnetron Sputtering Method

Subject Areas :

Hossein Shafyei ¹ , Amir Seifoddini ² , Saeed Hasani ³ , Ali Obeydavi ⁴

1 - Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Yazd University.
2 - Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Yazd University.
3 - Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Yazd University
4 - Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology

Received: 2024-07-24 Accepted : 2024-08-31 Published : 2025-04-30

Keywords: Thin Film Metallic Glass Stainless Steel 316 Amorphous Structure,

Abstract :

Applying coatings with amorphous structure on medical tools can improve their biocompatibility behavior. One of these coatings is Zr-based thin film metal glass coatings. The purpose of this research is to design a novel seven-component alloy with a Zr-based glass structure and apply it to 316 stainless steel (used for surgical instruments). Studies show that elements such as copper, silver and even aluminum in this glass structure create antibacterial properties, Cr increases corrosion resistance, and silica and boron increase the tendency of the structure to become amorphous. After thermodynamic investigations in predicting the possibility of amorphous structure and reducing the possibility of forming any crystalline phase in the coating and calculation of the misfit factor, first an alloy with the chemical composition of Zr₃₀Cu₂₀Al₁₀Ag₁₀Cr₁₀Si₁₀Br₁₀was designed. The elements were weighed with the required stoichiometric ratio, and then they were mixed using a mechanical ball mill. Then, using SPS, Spark Plasma Sintering system, a target with the desired chemical composition was produced. Next, by using the target produced in a Magnetron Sputtering coating machine, thin layers of the alloy with two different thicknesses were applied on the 316 steel substrate. The investigations carried out indicate the success in obtaining a completely amorphous structure. In addition to the absence of any crystalline structure, the uniformity of the coating, the homogeneity of the chemical composition, a very good connection with the substrate are other characteristics of the produced coating. Therefore, it can be said that its application on biomedical steel tools can increase their biocompatibility behavior.

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