Structural, mechanical and biological comparison of TiC and TiCN nanocomposites films

The vacuum deposition provides great flexibility for manipulating material's chemistry and structure. A combination of metallic (Ti) and carbon phase can enhance certain physical properties of nanocomposite thin films.In this work, the comparison of nanocomposite films composed of TiC or TiCN grains embedded in amorphous carbon matrix is reported. The films were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering at 200 °C in argon and nitrogen. In the case of argon deposition, 4–5 nm TiC grains in carbon matrix were observed. The nitrogen deposition combined with low content of Ti (∼1.2 at%) proved to be insufficient for the development of larger crystals. The carbon had carbide character in TiC film, whereas in TiCN film all the carbon had graphite type environment. TiC film deposited in argon exhibited better mechanical properties than TiCN films deposited in nitrogen. In both cases, the good biocompatibility was observed after 7 days osteoblast cells seeding.