Preparation, Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility of Ta-Coated 3Y-TZP Ceramic Deposited by a Plasma Surface Alloying Technique

Ke Zheng; Liangliang Li; Yaqian Dong; Jie Gao; Hongjun Hei; Yong Ma; Bin Zhou; Zhiyong He; Yongsheng Wang; Shengwang Yu; Bin Tang; Yucheng Wu

doi:10.3390/ma13061265

Preparation, Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility of Ta-Coated 3Y-TZP Ceramic Deposited by a Plasma Surface Alloying Technique

Materials (Basel). 2020 Mar 11;13(6):1265. doi: 10.3390/ma13061265.

Authors

Ke Zheng¹, Liangliang Li¹, Yaqian Dong¹, Jie Gao¹, Hongjun Hei¹, Yong Ma¹, Bin Zhou¹, Zhiyong He¹, Yongsheng Wang¹, Shengwang Yu¹, Bin Tang¹, Yucheng Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of New Carbon Materials, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China.

Abstract

A Ta coating has been successfully fabricated on the surface of zirconia polycrystals ceramic (3 mol% yttria, 3Y-TZP) by a plasma surface alloying technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that a α-Ta coating with a continuous and compact surface morphology which consisted of a deposited layer with a thickness of 390 nm and a diffusion layer with a thickness of 200 nm covered the 3Y-TZP. Due to the effect of inhabitation the t→m transformation by the deposited Ta coating, the biaxial flexural strength caused by the phase transformation during hydrothermal aging is reduced e.g. p < 0.05 after 20 h and/or 100 h. In addition, the Ta coating shows non-cytotoxicity and improved proliferation ability of osteoblasts.

Keywords: 3Y-TZP; Ta coating; biaxial flexural strength; biocompatibility; hydrothermal aging.