Amorphous carbon coatings (a-C) incorporated with various titanium and chromium content (Ti/a-C and Cr/a-C) were deposited on 316L substrates using unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The relevant electrochemical characteristics in simulated body fluid (SBF) indicated that Ti/a-C and Cr/a-C coatings could enhance the anticorrosion abilities of 316L substrates via increasing charge transfer resistant (R-ct) due to formation of titanium and chromium oxides. However, the more Ti incorporation is likely to weaken the anticorrosion ability of Ti/a-C coatings due to more sp(2) content. On the contrary, the more Cr incorporation can enhance the anticorrosion ability of Cr/a-C coatings owing to more sp(3) content. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.