Corrosion behavior of low energy,high temperature nitrogen ion-implanted AISI 304 stainless steel

This work presents the results of a low-energy nitrogen ion implantation of AISI 304 type stainless steel (SS) at a moderate temperature of about 500°C. The nitrogen ions are extracted from a Kauffman-type ion source at an energy of 30 keV, and ion current density of 100 μA cm⁻². Nitrogen ion concentration of 6 × 10¹⁷, 8 × 10¹⁷ and 10¹⁸ ions cm⁻², were selected for our study. The X-ray diffraction results show the formation of CrN polycrystalline phase after nitrogen bombardment and a change of crystallinity due to the change in nitrogen ion concentration. The secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) results show the formation of CrN phases too. Corrosion test has shown that corrosion resistance is enhanced by increasing nitrogen ion concentration.      

Evaluation of bacterial adhesion on Si-doped diamond-like carbon films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films as biomaterial for medical devices have been attracting great interest due to their excellent properties such as hardness, low friction and chemical inertness. It has been demonstrated that the properties of DLC films can be further improved by the addition of silicon into DLC films, such as thermal stability, compressive stress, etc. However no research work on anti-bacterial properties of silicon-doped diamond-like carbon films has been reported. In this paper the surface physical and chemical properties of Si-doped diamond-like carbon films with various Si contents on 316 stainless steel substrate prepared by a magnetron sputtering technique were investigated, including surface topography, surface chemistry, the sp³/sp² ratio, contact angle, surface free energy, etc. Bacterial adhesion to Si-doped DLC films was evaluated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus which frequently cause medical device-associated infections. The experimental results showed that bacterial adhesion decreased with increasing the silicon content in the films. All the Si-doped DLC films performed much better than stainless steel 316L on reducing bacterial attachment.     

Long range interactions between micro spheres and alloy surfaces in water changed by ion implantation

Ion implantation was adopted to change the surface potentials of samples made of aluminum bronze. The interactions between the SiO₂ particles and the sample surfaces in water were changed from attractive to repulsive. According to the surface element integration method, this interaction was simulated and the electrostatic double layer force was considered to be the dominated factor. This long range repulsive interaction was proved to have effect on preventing micro particles approaching the alloy surface by the fluorescent particles adhesion experiment, and the technology of ion implantation may have potential applications in adhesion resistance and abrasion reduction for alloys running in water.     

Improved cell viability and hydroxyapatite growth on nitrogen ion-implanted surfaces

Stainless steel 306 is implanted with various doses of nitrogen ions using a 2?MV pelletron accelerator for the improvement of its surface biomedical properties. Raman spectroscopy reveals incubation of hydroxyapatite (HA) on all the samples and it is found that the growth of incubated HA is greater in higher ion dose samples. SEM profiles depict uniform growth and greater spread of HA with higher ion implantation. Human oral fibroblast response is also found consistent with Raman spectroscopy and SEM results; the cell viability is found maximum in samples treated with the highest (more than 300%) dose. XRD profiles signified greater peak intensity of HA with ion implantation; a contact angle study revealed hydrophilic behavior of all the samples but the treated samples were found to be lesser hydrophilic compared to the control samples. Nitrogen implantation yields greater bioactivity, improved surface affinity for HA incubation and improved hardness of the surface.     

Wetting modifications of uhmwpe surfaces induced by ion implantation

Ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) surfaces are characterized in terms of roughness and wetting. Changes in the surface morphology of the polymer were induced macroscopically by mechanical friction and microscopically by ion implantation. The ion irradiation was obtained by using 300?keV Xe⁺ beams with doses ranging between 10¹⁴ and 10¹⁵?ions/cm².

Roughness and wetting measurements were performed in order to investigate the UHMWPE surface properties before and after the surface treatments. The wetting angle of the polymeric surface increases with the decrease of the roughness and with the increase of the absorbed dose. Results are discussed from the point of view of the biological reactions that could degrade the UHMWPE biocompatible surfaces employed in different mobile prostheses.     

The influence of implanted yttrium on the cyclic oxidation behaviour of 304 stainless steel

High-temperature alloys are frequently used in power plants, gasification systems, petrochemical industry, combustion processes and in aerospace applications. Depending on the application, materials are subjected to corrosive atmospheres and thermal cycling. In the present work, thermal cycling was carried out in order to study the influence of implanted yttrium on the oxide scale adherence on 304 steel specimens oxidised in air at 1273 K. In situ X-ray diffraction indicates that the oxides formed at 1273 K are different on blank specimens compared to implanted specimens. Glancing angle XRD allows to analyse the oxide scale composition after cooling to room temperature.Experimental results show that yttrium implantation at a nominal dose of 10¹⁷ ions cm⁻² does not improve significantly the cyclic oxidation behaviour of the austenitic AISI 304 steel. However, it appears that yttrium implantation remarkably enhance the oxidation resistance during isothermal oxidation. It reduces the transient oxidation stage and the parabolic oxidation rate constant by one order of magnitude.     

Comparison between MeV Ni and He ion-implanted planar optical waveguides in quartz

Optically polished crystalline quartz samples were implanted at room temperature by 2.6 MeV Ni⁺ ions with a dose of 9×10¹⁴ ions/cm² and 2.0 MeV He⁺ ions with a dose of 1.5×10¹⁶ ions/cm², respectively. A comparison of the MeV Ni⁺ ion-implanted planar waveguide formation was made with the MeV He⁺ ion-implanted one. The prism-coupling method was carried out to measure the dark modes in the quartz waveguides by using model 2010 prism coupler. Five modes were observed in the Ni⁺ implanted waveguide while 15 modes were found in the He⁺ ion-implanted one. Reflectivity calculation method was applied to fitting the refractive index profile. TRIM’98 (transport of ions in matter) code was used to simulate the damage profile in quartz by MeV Ni⁺ and He⁺ ions implantation, respectively. It is found that the refractive index profile in MeV Ni⁺ ions implanted waveguide is somewhat different in shape from that in MeV He⁺ ions implanted waveguide.     

First-principles study of the relaxation and energy of bcc-Fe, fcc-Fe and AISI-304 stainless steel surfaces

Relaxations and surface energies of bcc-Fe, fcc-Fe and AISI-304 stainless steel surfaces are investigated by using first-principles total energy calculations. The low-index surfaces (1 0 0), (1 1 0), and (1 1 1) are optimized with respect to the atomic coordinates. The calculations are performed within the density functional framework using the projector augmented plane wave (PAW) method. The structural property, surface relaxations and surface energies of bcc-Fe agree well with experimental data from previous computational studies. For bcc-Fe, the order of surface relaxations and surface energies is (1 1 0) < (1 0 0) < (1 1 1). The orders of surface relaxations and energies for fcc-Fe and AISI-304 stainless steel are (1 1 1) < (1 0 0) < (1 1 0) and (1 0 0) < (1 1 1) < (1 1 0), respectively. The surface energies of AISI-304 stainless steel achieved in this study provide a good basis for future experimental application.     

Contact angle hysteresis on nano-structured surfaces

We present results from an experimental study on the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis on solid surfaces decorated by a random array of nanometric hollows. For weak values of the areal density of defects φ_d, the hysteresis H increases linearly with φ_d. This evolution is described by a pinning–depinning process of the contact line by individual defects. At higher values of φ_d, a collective pinning effect appears and H decreases with increasing φ_d. In the linear regime, our experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions for contact angle hysteresis induced by a single isolated defect on the solid surface. We suggest that the crossover from the individual to the collective pinning effects could be interpreted in terms of an overlapping of wetting cross sections. Finally, we analyse the influence of both the size and the morphology (hollows/hillocks) of defects on the anchorage of the contact line.     

Effects of surface nanocrystallization pretreatment on low-temperature ion sulfurization behavior of 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel

A nanocrystalline surface layer of 10 μm thickness was fabricated on 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel by means of supersonic fine particles bombarding (SFPB). The followed low-temperature ion sulfurizing was carried out on the original and the SFPBed (SFPB treated) surface, respectively, forming sulfide layers with certain thickness. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to analyze the phase constituents and grain size of the nanocrystallized surface layer. The surface morphologies and compositions of the sulfide layers were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) was used to detect the valence states of the sulfide layers. Elemental distribution with depth was measured by augur energy spectroscopy (AES). The results show that the microstructure of the surface layer is refined to nano-grains with the grain size about 30 nm and random crystallographic orientations by SFPB treatment. The surface nanocrystallization pretreatment can significantly improve the thickness, density, and the FeS content ratio of the sulfide layers. The analysis indicates that, the enhancement in efficiency of the ion sulfurization treatment by SFPB surface nanocrystallization treatment is mainly attributed to the high-density crystal defects and the increase of surface chemical activity.     

Adsorption of ammonia on treated stainless steel and polymer surfaces

Adsorption of dynamically diluted ammonia at part-per-billion to low part-per-million concentrations in dry nitrogen was studied with treated and non-treated stainless steel and polymer test tubes. The treatments included electropolishing and two types of coatings based on amorphous silicon. Cavity ring-down spectroscopy with an external cavity diode laser operating in the near-infrared wavelength range was used to monitor the adsorption process in real time in continuous-flow conditions to obtain quantitative assessment of the adsorptive properties of the studied surfaces. The investigated polymers were all less adsorptive than any of the treated or non-treated stainless steel surfaces. Some of the commercial coatings reduced the adsorption loss of stainless steel by a factor of ten or more. Polyvinylidene fluoride was found to be superior (less adsorption) to the four other studied polymer coatings. The number of adsorbed ammonia molecules per surface area obtained at different ammonia gas phase concentrations was modeled with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The time behavior of the adsorption–desorption process occurring in the time scale of seconds and minutes was simulated with a simple kinetic model.     

Characterization of silane layers on modified stainless steel surfaces and related stainless steel-plastic hybrids

The aim of this work was to characterize silane layers on the modified stainless steel surfaces and relate it to the adhesion in the injection-molded thermoplastic urethane-stainless steel hybrids. The silane layers were characterized with scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, allowing the direct quantization of silane layer thickness and its variation. The surface topographies were characterized with atomic force microscope and chemical analyses were performed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The mechanical strength of the respective stainless steel-thermoplastic urethane hybrids was determined by peel test. Polishing and oxidation treatment of the steel surface improved the silane layer uniformity compared to the industrially pickled surface and increased the adhesion strength of the hybrids, resulting mainly cohesive failure in TPU. XPS analysis indicated that the improved silane bonding to the modified steel surface was due to clean Fe₂O₃-type surface oxide and stronger interaction with TPU was due to more amino species on the silane layer surface compared to the cleaned, industrially pickled surface. Silane layer thickness affected failure type of the hybrids, with a thick silane layer the hybrids failed mainly in the silane layer and with a thinner layer cohesively in plastic.     

Influence of ion implantation on titanium surfaces for medical applications

The implantation of ions into the near surface layer is a new approach to improve the osseointegration of metallic biomaterials like titanium. Meanwhile it is well known that surface topography and surface physico-chemistry as well as visco-elastic properties influence the cell response after implantation of implants into the human body. To optimize the cell response of titanium, ion implantation techniques have been used to integrate calcium and phosphorus, both elements present in the inorganic bone phase. In this context, the concentration profile of the detected elements and their chemical state have been investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling. Ion implantation leads to strong changes of the chemical composition of the near surface region, which are expected to modify the biofunctionality as observed in previous experiments on the cell response. The co-implantation of calcium and phosphorus samples, which showed best results in the performed tests (biological and physical), leads to a strong modification of the chemical surface composition.     

材料表面之间黏附过程分析

对两材料表面黏附过程进行了理论分析，得出了跳触距离的计算公式，发现跳触距离与试样的几何尺寸和系统的刚度有关，而且也受到相对湿度的影响. 利用单峰接触模型和幂律流体的本构方程，对材料表面吸附的水膜进行了动力学分析，改进了描述拉开力和停留时间关系的方程. 并利用自制的黏附力测试装置对跳触力和拉开力进行了测试和分析. 关键词： 黏附 范德华力 相对湿度 水膜     

Analysis of properties of krypton ion-implanted Zn-polar ZnO thin films

The optical properties of materials are of great significance for their device applications. Different numbers of krypton ions are doped into high-quality Zn-polar Zn O films fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) on sapphire substrates through ion implantation. Krypton is chemically inert. The structures, morphologies, and optical properties of films are measured. The x-ray diffraction(XRD) spectra confirm the wurtzite structures of Zn-polar Zn O films. Atomic force microscopy(AFM) results show that the films have pit surface structure and higher roughness after Kr ion implantation. A detailed investigation of the optical properties is performed by using the absorption spectrum, photoluminescence(PL), and spectroscopic ellipsometry(SE). The absorption spectrum is measured by UV-visible spectrophotometer and the bandgap energy is estimated by the Tauc method. The results show that the absorption increases and the bandgap decreases after Kr ion implantation. Moreover, the Kr ion implantation concentration also affects the properties of the film. The ellipsometry results show that the films' refractive index decreases with the Kr ion implantation concentration increasing. These results can conduce to the design and optimization of Kr ion-implanted polar Zn O films for optoelectronic applications.     

Raman scattering studies on manganese ion-implanted GaN

This paper reports that the Raman spectra have been recorded on the metal-organic chemical vapour deposition epitaxially grown GaN before and after the Mn ions implanted. Several Raman defect modes have emerged from the implanted samples. The structures around 182 cm^-1 modes are attributed to the disorder-activated Raman scattering, whereas the 361 cm^-1 and 660 cm^-1 peaks are assigned to nitrogen vacancy-related defect scattering. One additional peak at 280 cm^-1 is attributed to the vibrational mode of gallium vacancy-related defects and/or to disorder activated Raman scattering. A Raman-scattering study of lattice recovery is also presented by rapid thermal annealing at different temperatures between 700 °C and 1050 °C on Mn implanted GaN epilayers. The behaviour of peak-shape change and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the A₁(LO) (733 cm^-1) and E^H₂ (566 cm^-1) Raman modes are explained on the basis of implantation-induced lattice damage in GaN epilayers.     

The influence of the annealing conditions on the photoluminescence of ion-implanted SiO2:Si nanosystem at additional phosphorus implantation

The influence of P ion doping on the photoluminescence (PL) of the system of nanocrystals in SiO₂ matrix (SiO₂:Si) both without annealing and after annealing at various temperatures (provided before and after additional P implantation) is investigated. The Si and P implantation was carried out with ion energies of 150 keV and doses Φ_Si=10¹⁷ cm⁻² and Φ_P=(0.1–300)×10¹⁴ cm⁻² (current density j3 μAcm⁻²). The system after Si implantation was formed at 1000°C and 1100°C (2 h). For the case of SiO₂:Si system as-implanted by P, the intensity of PL was drastically quenched, but partially retained. As for the step-by-step annealing (at progressively increased temperatures) carried out after P implantation, the sign and degree of doping effect change with annealing temperature. The possible mechanisms of these features are discussed.     

LZ-50离子注入装置及其在材料表面改性中的应用

本文叙述了LZ-50离子注入装置及其在材料表面改性中的应用。该装置离子能量80keV,氮离子束流强～10mA,注入面积～200cm~2,性能稳定,重复性好,可长期稳态运行。利用该装置对硬质合金、工具钢、钛合金、陶瓷及其它有色金属材料进行了氮离子注入实验,并取得了一些有应用价值的工艺结果,如离子注入使Co-WC机械夹固刀片的耐磨性能提高2—4倍。     

Chemical surface composition of the polyethylene implanted by Ag ions studied by phase imaging atomic force microscopy

High density polyethylene (HDPE) has been modified by Ag⁺ ion implantation with the energy of 60 keV. The total amount of implanted silver ions was 1, 5 and 12 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm². The surface topography was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), while the surface composition changes were detected using phase imaging AFM. Surface topography changes were studied in detail using 3D surface parameters analyses. The average roughness decreased for the implanted HDPE indicating the flattening of the surface. Phase AFM images indicated the homogenization of the polyethylene during ion implantation, while histogram analyses confirmed the change in surface composition.     

Influence of Ni deposition and subsequent N ion implantation at different substrate temperatures on nano-structure and corrosion behaviour of type 316 and 304 stainless steels

Ni thin films of 250 nm thicknesses were coated on type 304 and 316 stainless steels and post N⁺ ion implanted at 15 keV energy with a fluence of 5 × 10¹⁷ N⁺ cm⁻² at different substrate temperatures. Surface nano-structure of the samples were analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) before corrosion test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after corrosion test. Corrosion behaviour of the samples in 1.0 M H₂SO₄ solution was investigated by means of potentiodynamic technique. Nano-structure and crystallography of the films showed the development of Ni₃N(1 1 1) and Ni₄N(2 0 0) orientations with a minimum surface roughness and grain size at 400 K substrate temperature. The highest corrosion resistance with a corrosion current of 0.01 μA cm⁻² (for SS(316)) and 0.56 μA cm⁻² (for SS(304)) was achieved in case of samples which were N⁺ ion implanted at 400 K. Results for both types of stainless steels showed good agreement and the better performance of SS(316) was attributed to the 2% molybdenum contents in the alloy composition of this type of stainless steel, which enhances the effectiveness of nitrogen in retarding the corrosion process.