K. Meinert et Gk. Wolf, CORROSION STUDIES OF STAINLESS-STEEL 316L, MODIFIED BY ION-BEAM TECHNIQUES, UNDER SIMULATED PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, Surface & coatings technology, 98(1-3), 1998, pp. 1148-1156
Stainless steel 316L is a commonly used material for medical implants
in orthopaedic surgery. In order to improve its performance in biologi
cal surroundings, metallic coatings (Au, Ag, Cu and Zn) were deposited
by evaporation (vapour deposition) followed by ion beam mixing. Ceram
ic coatings (Al2O3) were produced by ion beam-assisted deposition. As
protection against galvanic corrosion of the 316L bulk material in con
tact with noble metals, an alumina layer was deposited on to the bulk
material and afterwards the coatings with noble metals were carried ou
t. Potentiostatic and potentiodynamic corrosion experiments in physiol
ogical sodium chloride solution and in human plasma showed interesting
differences in the corrosion behaviour between these two electrolytes
. Coatings with a high corrosion protection in human plasma sometimes
showed poor corrosion protection in physiological sodium chloride solu
tion. These findings are discussed on the basis of the electrochemical
properties of the systems. The combination of alumina and silver coat
ings showed the best results in electrochemical corrosion evaluations
in both solutions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.