Physico-mechanical properties of Ti-Zr coatings fabricated via ion-assisted arc-plasma deposition

In this study, Ti-Zr coatings were fabricated by ion-assisted arc-plasma deposition in vacuum. The phase composition, morphology and mechanical properties of the developed thin films were studied. The addition of Zr into Ti resulted in the formation of α’- (Ti,Zr) and α”- (Ti,Zr) solid solutions and mechanical properties change of the prepared alloys. It was revealed that the increase of Zr content in the coating resulted in the increase of nanohardness. The deposited coatings possess reduced modulus of elasticity 77–98 GPa, which is significantly improved compared with Ti substrate, which reveals a modulus of elasticity of 110 GPa. Furthermore, nanoindentation results demonstrate significant improvement of the elastic strain to failure and plastic deformation resistance of the Ti-Zr coatings with the increase of the content of Zr from 11 wt % to 22 wt%. Thus, it is likely that Ti-Zr coatings obtained by ion-assisted arc-plasma deposition possess a high biomedical potential due to synergetic combination of biocompatibility and biomechanical properties.