Tribocorrosion behavior and ions release of CoCrMo alloy coated with a TiAlVCN/CNx multilayer in simulated body fluid plus bovine serum albumin

While the CoCrMo biomaterial is currently employed in artificial joints, there are medical concerns regarding its metal ion release and material loss caused by tribocorrosion. In this work, a TiAlVCN/CNx multilayer coating has been employed to improve the tribocorrosion-resistance of the CoCrMo substrate. During the tribocorrosion test, with the sample immersed in a simulated body fluid containing bovine serum albumin, open-circuit potential measurements showed more noble potential as well as a reduction of both the friction coefficient and wear-rate during the sliding phase. Inductive coupled plasma results demonstrate that the multilayer coating effectively blocked the emigration of metallic ions.