Patent Grant
8440321
This application is one of the five related U.S. patent applications listed below. All listed applications have the same assignee. The disclosure of each of the listed applications is incorporated by reference into the other listed applications.
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to coated articles, particularly to a coated article having an antibacterial effect and a method for making the coated article.
2. Description of Related Art
To make the living environment more hygienic and healthy, a variety of antibacterial products have been produced by coating antibacterial metal films on the substrates of the products. The metal may be copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or silver (Ag). However, the coated metal films are soft and bond poorly to the substrate, so the metal films are prone to abrasion. Moreover, the metal ions within the metal films rapidly dissolve from killing bacterium, so the metal films have a short lifespan.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The substrate 11 may be made of stainless steel, but is not limited to stainless steel.
The bonding layer 13 may be a nickel-chromium (Ni—Cr) alloy layer formed on the substrate 11 by vacuum sputtering. The bonding layer 13 has a thickness of about 150 nm-250 nm.
The Ni—Cr—N layers 15 may be formed by vacuum sputtering. Each Ni—Cr—N layer 15 may have a thickness of about 40 nm-80 nm. Each Ni—Cr—N layer 15 contains by atomic percentage, about 30%-45% nickel, about 40%-55% chromium, and about 5%-15% nitrogen. The Ni—Cr—N layers 15 have a porous structure. Furthermore, the Ni—Cr—N layers 15 are hard coatings and abrasion resistant, which provide the coated article 10 with high hardness and good abrasion resistance.
The Zn layers 17 may be formed by vacuum sputtering. Each Zn layer 17 may have a thickness of about 40 nm-80 nm. Each Zn layer 17 has a portion that imbeds in the porous structure of the adjacent two Ni—Cr—N layers 15. As such, the Zn layers 17 are securely attached to the Ni—Cr—N layers 15 and the zinc ions with an antibacterial property within the Zn layers 17 will not be dissolved rapidly, thus the Zn layers 17 have long-lasting antibacterial effect. Furthermore, the outermost Ni—Cr—N layer 15 will protect the Zn layers 17 from abrasion, which further prolongs the antibacterial effect of the coated article 10.
A method for making the coated article 10 may include the following steps:
The substrate 11 is pre-treated, such pre-treating process may include the following steps:
The substrate 11 is cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning device (not shown) filled with ethanol or acetone.
The substrate 11 is plasma cleaned. Referring to
The bonding layer 13 may be magnetron sputtered on the pretreated substrate 11 by using a direct current power on the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23. Magnetron sputtering of the bonding layer 13 is implemented in the coating chamber 21. The inside of the coating chamber 21 is heated to about 70° C.-90° C. Argon gas may be used as a working gas and is fed into the coating chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 350 sccm-500 sccm. The direct current power is applied on the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23, and nickel atoms and chromium atoms are sputtered off from the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23 to deposit the bonding layer 13 on the substrate 11. During the depositing process, the substrate 11 may have a bias voltage of about −100 V to about −150 V. Depositing of the bonding layer 13 may take about 5 min-10 min.
One of the Ni—Cr—N layers 15 may be magnetron sputtered on the bonding layer 13 by using a direct current power on the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23. Magnetron sputtering of the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 is implemented in the coating chamber 21. The internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is maintained at about 70° C.-90° C. Nitrogen (N2) may be used as a reaction gas and is fed into the coating chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 45 sccm-120 sccm. Argon gas may be used as a working gas and is fed into the coating chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 400 sccm-500 sccm. The direct current power at a level of about 7 kilowatt (KW) to about 11 KW is applied on the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23, and then nickel atoms and chromium atoms are sputtered off from the nickel-chromium alloy targets 23. The nickel atoms, chromium atoms and nitrogen atoms are ionized in an electrical field in the coating chamber 21. The ionized nickel and chromium atoms then chemically react with the ionized nitrogen to deposit the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 on the bonding layer 13. During the depositing process, the substrate 11 may have a direct current bias voltage of about −50 V to about −100 V. Depositing of the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 may take about 5 min-7 min.
One of the Zn layers 17 may be magnetron sputtered on the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 by using a direct current power of 8 KW-10 KW on the Zn targets 25. Magnetron sputtering of the Zn layer 17 is implemented in the coating chamber 21. The internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is maintained at about 70° C.-90° C. Argon gas may be used as a working gas and is fed into the coating chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 400 sccm-500 sccm. The direct current power is applied on the Zn targets 25, and then Zn atoms are sputtered off from the Zn targets 25 to deposit the Zn layer 17 on the Ni—Cr—N layer 15. During the depositing process, the substrate 11 may have a direct current bias voltage of about −50 V to about −100 V. Depositing of the Zn layer 17 may take about 5 min-7 min.
The steps of magnetron sputtering the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 and the Zn layer 17 are repeated about 13-19 times to form the coated article 10. In this embodiment, one more Ni—Cr—N layer 15 may be magnetron sputtered on the Zn layer 17 and the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 forms the outermost layer of the coated article 10.
Specific examples of making the coated article 10 are described as follows. The pre-treating process of ultrasonic cleaning the substrate 11 in these specific examples may be substantially the same as previously described so it is not described here again. Additionally, the magnetron sputtering processes of the bonding layer 13, Ni—Cr—N layer 15, and Zn layer 17 in the specific examples are substantially the same as described above, and the specific examples mainly emphasize the different process parameters of making the coated article 10.
The substrate 11 is made of stainless steel.
Plasma cleaning of the substrate 11: the flow rate of Ar is 500 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −200 V; plasma cleaning of the substrate 11 takes 5 min.
Sputtering to form the bonding layer 13 on the substrate 11: the flow rate of Ar is 420 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −100 V; the Ni—Cr alloy targets 23 are applied with a power of 7 KW; the mass percentage of nickel in the Ni—Cr alloy target 23 is 35%; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the bonding layer 13 takes 6 min; the bonding layer 13 has a thickness of 185 nm.
Sputtering to form Ni—Cr—N layer 15 on the bonding layer 13: the flow rate of Ar is 400 sccm, the flow rate of N2 is 60 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −80 V; the Ni—Cr alloy targets 23 are applied with a power of 8 KW; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 takes 7 min; the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 has a thickness of 75 nm.
Sputtering to form Zn layer 17 on the Ni—Cr—N layer 15: the flow rate of Ar is 400 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −80 V; the Zn targets 25 are applied with a power of 8 KW; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the Zn layer 17 takes 7 min; the Zn layer 17 has a thickness of 70 nm.
The step of sputtering the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 is repeated 17 times, and the step of sputtering the Zn layer 17 is repeated 16 times.
The substrate 11 is made of stainless steel.
Plasma cleaning of the substrate 11: the flow rate of Ar is 500 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −200 V; plasma cleaning of the substrate 11 takes 5 min.
Sputtering to form the bonding layer 13 on the substrate 11: the flow rate of Ar is 420 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −100 V; the Ni—Cr alloy targets 23 are applied with a power of 7 KW; the mass percentage of nickel in the Ni—Cr alloy target 23 is 40%; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the bonding layer 13 takes 5 min; the bonding layer 13 has a thickness of 185 nm.
Sputtering to form Ni—Cr—N layer 15 on the bonding layer 13: the flow rate of Ar is 400 sccm, the flow rate of N2 is 100 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −80 V; the Ni—Cr alloy targets 23 are applied with a power of 7 KW; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 takes 5 min; the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 has a thickness of 60 nm.
Sputtering to form Zn layer 17 on the Ni—Cr—N layer 15: the flow rate of Ar is 400 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −80 V; the Zn targets 25 are applied with a power of 8 KW; the internal temperature of the coating chamber 21 is 80° C.; sputtering of the Zn layer 17 takes 5 min; the Zn layer 17 has a thickness of 65 nm.
The step of sputtering the Ni—Cr—N layer 15 is repeated 17 times, and the step of sputtering the Zn layer 17 is repeated 16 times.
An antibacterial performance test has been performed on the coated articles 10 described in the above examples 1-2. The test was carried out as follows:
Bacteria was firstly dropped on the coated article 10 and then covered by a sterilization film and put in a sterilization culture dish for about 24 hours at a temperature of about 37±1° C. and a relative humidity (RH) of more than 90%. Secondly, the coated article 10 was removed from the sterilization culture dish, and the surface of the coated article 10 and the sterilization film were rinsed using 20 milliliter (ml) wash liquor. The wash liquor was then collected in a nutrient agar to inoculate the bacteria for about 24 hours to 48 hours at about 37±1° C. After that, the number of surviving bacteria was counted to calculate the bactericidal effect of the coated article 10.
The test result indicated that the bactericidal effect of the coated article 10 with regard to escherichia coli, salmonella, and staphylococcus aureus was no less than 98%. Furthermore, after having been immersed in water for about three months at about 37±1° C., the bactericidal effect of the coated article 10 on escherichia coli, salmonella, and staphylococcus aureus was no less than 97.3%.
It is believed that the exemplary embodiment and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 1 0068536 | Mar 2011 | CN | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3493289 | Edwards | Feb 1970 | A |
| 5177396 | Gielen et al. | Jan 1993 | A |
| 5248626 | Nguyen et al. | Sep 1993 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120244379 A1 | Sep 2012 | US |
