| Summary: | For the enhancement of the anticorrosion and antibacterial performance of the biomedical alloy Ti6Al4V, a novel Cu incorporated multilayer Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>ceramic composite coating Cu-Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>/Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>/Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>-TiO<sub>2</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/Ti (coating codeCu-MTa<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>) was developed by radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering. Meanwhile, to better display the multilayer Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> coating mentioned above, a monolayer Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> ceramic coating was deposited onto the surface of Ti6Al4V alloy as a reference. The surface morphology, microstructure, phase constituents, and elemental states of the coating were evaluated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The adhesion strength, wettability, anticorrosion and antibacterial properties of the coating were examined by a scratch tester, contact angle measurement, electrochemical workstations, and plate counting method, respectively. The results showed that the deposited coatings were amorphous and hydrophobic. Cu doped into the Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> coating existed as CuO and Cu<sub>2</sub>O. A Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>-TiO<sub>2</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/Ti multi-interlayer massively enhanced the adhesion strength of the coating, which was 2.9 times stronger than that of the monolayer Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>coating. The multilayer Cu-MTa<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> coating revealed a higher corrosion potential and smaller corrosion current density as compared to the uncoated Ti6Al4V, indicating the better anticorrosion performance of Ti6Al4V. Moreover, a 99.8% antibacterial effect of Cu-MTa<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> coated against <i>Staphylococcus aureuswas</i> obtained.
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