Corrosion Resistance of Ti-O Film Modified 316L Stainless Steel Coronary Stents In Vitro

This article dealt with improving corrosion resistance of stent modified using Ti-O film. Ti-O films of various thicknesses were grown on the surface of 316L stainless steel (SS) stents by metal vacuum arc source deposition technology, and the phase composition, the thickness and the adhesion between films and substance were investigated by micro-x-ray diffraction (Micro-XRD), surface profilometer, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) separately. The corrosion resistance of modified stent was assessed by polarization test in phosphate buffered solution (37 +/- 1 degrees C). The result shows that the Ti-O films were very smooth and uniform. There were not any cracks and delaminations after dilation by angioplasty, the adhesion between Ti-O film and stent is satisfactory. The open circuit potential (OCP) of the Ti-O film modified stents was higher than that of the bare stents; it shows that the electrochemical stability of modified stents was more than bare stents. The polarization test result indicates that the passivation stability and anti-breakdown performance of Ti-O film stents had better than bare stents, and no pitting was observed on the surface of both modified stents, but the local film striations were found on the stent surface of the thicker film, which indicated that the Ti-O film stents with certain thickness has good corrosion resistance.