Influence of NH beam bombarding energy on structural characterization and cell attachment of CNx coating

The carbon nitride (CN_x) coating with its novel properties will be excellent candidate for biomedical applications. CN_x coatings were prepared on the surface of Ti–6Al–4V by ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) with different NHⁿ⁺ beam bombarding energies at low substrate temperature. The coatings were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The result showed that the wear-resistance of CN_x coatings was better at higher beam bombarding energy. The cell attachment tests also gave interesting results that CN_x coatings exhibited low macrophage attachment and provide desirable surface for the normal cellular growth and morphology of the fibroblasts. Structural analysis showed that NHⁿ⁺ beam bombardment at the energies of 300–400 eV could result in more nitrogen concentration and fraction of sp³CN bonds in the structure of CN_x coatings, which may be responsible for the improvement in the wear-resistance and the cell attachment.