Anodized Nanoporous Titania Thin Films for Dental Application: Structure’ Effect on Corrosion Behavior

Abstract

Nanostructured Titania layers formed on the surface of titanium and titanium alloys by anodic oxidation play an important role in the enhancement of their biocompatibility and osseointegration in the human body. For this purpose, we aimed to study in the current work the structural and electrochemical properties of amorphous and crystallized nanostructured TiO2 thin films elaborated on Ti6Al4V substrate by electrochemical anodization in fluoride ions (F–) containing electrolyte at 10 V during 15 min and heat treated in air at 550 °C for 2 h. The morphology, chemical composition and phase composition of synthesized layers were investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The corrosion resistance improvement of both as-anodized and annealed titania layers was evaluated in 0.9 wt. % NaCl solution with pH = 6.4 at room temperature by means of open circuit potential (Eoc),potentiodynamic polarization (PDYN) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).