Investigation on synergistic effects of Laser surface texturing and TiAlN coating on the tribological properties and antibacterial performance of Ti6Al4V alloy

The present study aims to examine the antibacterial and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy using surface texturing and Titanium Aluminium Nitride (TiAlN) coating treatments. The goal is to enhance the service life of medical implants by improving both bacterial and wear resistance. The samples were tested against Escherichia coli using an amoxicillin disc as a reference antibacterial agent to identify distinct Zones of Inhibition (ZOI) around the treated samples after a 24- h incubation period. The surface-modified samples exhibited improved COF performance (9%) and a nearly 50% reduction in wear rate when tested under a sliding wear tribometer, corroborated by SEM and EDX analysis. Statistical analysis confirmed that the improvements are highly significant, with p < 0.0001. The TiAlN coating applied to the untreated and laser-treated specimens exhibited the largest ZOI in the range of 4 to 4.3 mm. The resulting antibacterial properties of the surface-modified Ti6Al4V alloy suggest its suitability for bioimplants, as it helps prevent biofilm formation.