Corrosion and biocompatibility of PPy/PEG coating electrodeposited on Ti6Al7Nb alloy

This work aims to improve the corrosion rate of Ti6Al7Nb alloy and to increase its biocompatibility at the same time, obtaining polymer composite films based on polypyrrole/polyethylene glycol (PPy/PEG). The elaboration method was electrodeposition. FT-IR analysis was performed in order to emphasize the formation of the PPy-PEG composite film by incorporating PEG into the polymer structure. The paper is focussed on PEG (400 molecular weight) effect on the corrosion in bioliquids (as tested electrochemical bioliquid was chosen Hank's balanced salt solution) and on the biocompatibility properties. The PPy film significantly improves the biocompatibility of the Ti6Al7Nb alloy. The PEG presence in the polymerization solution leads to more stable composite polymer films on the titanium alloy surface with a better corrosion resistance and a more hydrophilic behaviour comparing with the PPy film. The increase of cell viability and proliferation potential as compared to the PPy film is not important.