Electrochemical anodization of cast titanium alloys in oxalic acid for biomedical applications

Abstract

Titanium and its alloys have numerous biomedical applications thanks to the composition and morphology of their oxide film. In this study, the colorful oxide films were formed by anodizing cast Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb alloys in a 10% oxalic acid solution for 30 s at different voltages (20–80 V) of a direct current power supply. Atomic force microscopy was used as an accurate tool to measure the surface roughness of thin films on the nanometer scale. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed to analyze surface morphology and phase structure. According to the results, the produced titanium oxide layer showed high surface roughness, which increased with increasing anodizing voltage. The impact of anodizing voltages on the color and roughness of anodized layers was surveyed. The corrosion resistance of the anodized samples was studied in simulated body fluid at pH 7.4 and a temperature of 37 °C utilizing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the potentiodynamic polarization method. The anodized samples for both alloys at 40 V were at the optimal voltage, leading to a TiO₂ layer formation with the best compromise between oxide thickness and corrosion resistance. Also, findings showed that TiO₂ films produced on Ti-6Al-7Nb alloys had superior surface roughness properties compared to those of Ti-6Al-4V alloys, making them more appropriate for orthopedic applications. From the obtained data and the fruitful discussion, it was found that the utilized procedure is simple, low-cost, and repeatable. Therefore, anodization in 10% oxalic acid proved a viable alternative for the surface finishing of titanium alloys for biomedical applications.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

DC anodization / Ti-6Al-4V alloy / Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy / oxide film / corrosion

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Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2368-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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Open access funding provided by The Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB)

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