The effect of interlayer on corrosion resistance of ceramic coating/Mg alloy substrate in simulated physiological environment

Ceramic coatings are deposited on biodegradable magnesium alloys by physical vapor deposition to reduce the electrochemical activity in the simulated physiological environment. Although an interlayer is generally used to reduce the mismatch between the hard coating and soft substrate, the effects of the interlayer on the electrochemical corrosion behavior have seldom been explored. In this work, AlOxNy ceramic coatings were deposited on AZ31 magnesium alloys with Al or Ti interlayers. Polarization tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were conducted to evaluate the corrosion resistance in the cell culture medium. The AlOxNy ceramic coating significantly improved the bio-corrosion resistance of the magnesium alloy, but the Ti interlayer accelerated the corrosion rate. In comparison, although the addition of an Al interlayer led to smaller enhancement in the surface mechanical properties of the AlOxNy coating, corrosion could be impeded effectively. Our results indicate that an Al interlayer is preferred over Ti and the corrosion failure mechanism is discussed from the perspective of defects.