Anti-corrosion characteristics of nitride-coated AISI 316L stainless steel coronary stents

The corrosion resistance of TiN and TaN coatings deposited on AISI 316L stainless steel thread-coiled coronary stents by pulsed bias arc ion plating is evaluated by electrochemical methods in deaerated Tyrode's simulated body fluids (37 ± 1 °C). The free corrosion potential of the TaN-coated stents is found to be nobler than that of the TiN-coated and uncoated stents throughout most of the immersion time. The potentiodynamic polarization test results indicate that the TaN coatings offer better passivation stability and anti-breakdown performance. The longer-term 6-month immersion tests disclose slight localized corrosion on the surface of both coatings, but no film delamination or large area pitting can be observed indicating reasonably good corrosion resistance after the long period.