Abstrait

Effect of Sintering Method on Corrosion Resistance of Ti-40Nb-15Zr Alloy for Biomedical Applications in Simulated Body Fluid

Jianming Ruan, Taomei Zhang, Baoqi Wang, Hailin Yang and Wei Ruan

Ti-40at.%Nb-15at.%Zr (TNZ) alloy was prepared by high vacuum sintering(HVS) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) using Zr, Nb, and Ti elemental powder. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical measurement were used to character the corrosion resistance of the alloys in Hank’s solution. The results indicated that HVSed alloy was consisted of α and β, and the SPSed alloy was characterized by rich-Nb phase and less porosity. Additionally, the SPSed alloy has the lower corrosion current (Icorr) value 0.026 µA/cm2 than Ti-6Al-4V and HVSed alloy which were 0.043 µA/cm2 and 0.032 µA/cm2, respectively. The SEM results of the samples after immersion in the Hank’s solution for 72 hours showed that the corrosion of the SPSed alloy started in the rich-Nb region, and that of the HVSed alloy firstly occurred at the interface of the two phases (α and β). Furthermore, the EIS results demonstrated the existence of a duplex film consisting of an inner barrier layer and a porous outer layer on both Ti-6Al-4V and SPSed alloys.