Enhancing corrosive wear resistance and antibacterial properties of Ti6Al4V by laser-clad coatings with CrMoNbWCux powder

Ti6Al4V alloy is widely used in the manufacture of artificial joint implants, but its service life is limited due to wear and corrosion. To enhance the corrosive wear resistance and antibacterial properties, a mixture of CrMoNbW alloy powders with copper additions was deposited on a Ti6Al4V substrate via laser cladding. A high laser power was employed to fully melt the tungsten-containing powder, resulting in significant dilution and the formation of Ti-rich refractory alloy coating. The addition of copper promotes an increase in the Laves phase, significantly increasing the coating's hardness—approximately six times higher than Ti6Al4V and twice that of CoCrMo. Furthermore, copper addition enhances the coating's corrosion resistance. Tribocorrosion tests conducted in 0.9 % NaCl solution at 37 ± 0.5 °C revealed that copper addition effectively reduces the friction coefficient and dramatically decreases the wear rate. Notably, CrMoNbW-10 %Cu coating exhibits a wear resistance ∼69 times higher than Ti6Al4V under 1 N load. Additionally, antibacterial tests against S. aureus demonstrated that incorporating 10 wt % copper enhances the antibacterial rate from ∼51 % to 88 %. Thus, the laser-clad CrMoNbW-10 %Cu coating demonstrates strong potential for titanium-based artificial joint implants, offering superior wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and antibacterial performance.