In recent decades, jewelry manufacturers have started using nonprecious alloys to decrease production costs. A large number of customers, however, have an allergic (sensitizing) body reaction to jewelries made of such materials. The application of nonsensitizing coatings can decrease the negative influence of the jewelry material on the human organism. One material biologically inert towards human body tissues is zirconium. In this study, zirconium-based coatings applied by magnetron sputtering are examined. Eleven regimes of applying zirconium oxynitride coatings onto a substrate of AISI 430 grade steel are investigated. Microhardness and corrosion tests of the coatings in Hank’s solution are conducted and color performance is determined in the CIE 1976 L*a*b* and RGB color spaces. The coating width is 0.4–1.2 μm. It is established that the coatings have a microhardness of 2.5–3.0 GPa and are able to imitate colors of jewelries. Using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, it is established that the coatings consist of Zr, N, and O. The authors select sputtering conditions that produced metallic coatings with high optical reflectance in an energy range near the infrared region of the spectrum (<1.7 eV) of golden color with high lightness. It has been experimentally proven that the coatings do not corrode in Hank’s solution. The allergy patch test of jewelry with the zirconium oxynitride coating conducted on a respondent with sensitizing reaction to nonprecious alloy jewelry has demonstrated a good result—no signs of skin allergy were observed. The results allow us to recommend magnetron sputtering as a technique for applying zirconium-based coatings onto jewelry of nonprecious alloys.

中文翻译：

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非贵重合金制成的珠宝用非敏化Zr–O–N涂层

近几十年来，珠宝制造商已开始使用非贵重合金来降低生产成本。但是，大量顾客对这种材料制成的珠宝首饰有过敏（过敏）的身体反应。非敏化涂层的应用可以减少珠宝材料对人体的负面影响。对人体组织具有生物惰性的一种材料是锆。在这项研究中，研究了通过磁控溅射镀锆基涂层。研究了在AISI 430级钢的基材上施加氮氧化锆涂层的11种方法。在Hank溶液中进行了涂层的显微硬度和腐蚀测试，并在CIE 1976中确定了颜色性能L * a * b*和RGB颜色空间。涂层宽度为0.4–1.2μm。可以确定涂层的显微硬度为2.5–3.0 GPa，并能够模仿珠宝的颜色。使用能量色散X射线光谱学，可以确定涂层由Zr，N和O组成。作者选择了溅射条件，该条件产生的金属涂层在光谱的红外区域附近（<1.7 eV）金色，亮度高。实验证明，该涂料不会在汉克溶液中腐蚀。在对非贵重合金首饰有敏化反应的被调查对象上进行的氧氮化锆涂层首饰的过敏贴片试验已显示出良好的结果-没有观察到皮肤过敏的迹象。