Influence of the Ca- and P-enriched oxide layers produced on titanium and the Ti6Al4V alloy by the IBAD method upon the corrosion resistance of these materials

The paper presents the results of examination of the properties of the layers enriched with calcium and phosphorus produced by the ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate the microstructure of the surface layers. The chemical composition of the layers was examined by the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and Ruthedord backscattering.(RBS). The corrosion resistance was measured electrochemically in a simulated body fluid (SBF) at a temperature of 37degreesC. Prior to the measurements, the samples were exposed to the test conditions for 13 or 1000 h. A SIMS analysis indicates that the layers formed on titanium and the Ti6Al4V alloy contain calcium, oxygen and phosphorus. TEM results show that the surface layers have an amorphous structure, irrespective of the substrate and the kind of the auxiliary target. Corrosion resistance of the surface layers depends on the time of exposure in SBF. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.