Enhancing Biocompatibility and Corrosion Resistance of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy by Surface Modification Route

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys are widely used as candidate materials for biomedical implants. Despite their good biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, these materials suffer from corrosion after implantation in biological environments. The aim of this research work is to study the effect of two coatings on biocompatibility and corrosion behavior of Ti-6Al-4V biomedical implant material. Hydroxyapatite (HA) and hydroxyapatite/titanium dioxide (HA/TiO₂) coatings were thermal-sprayed on Ti-6Al-4V substrates. In the latter case, TiO₂ was used as a bond coat between the substrate and HA top coat. The corrosion behavior of coated and un-coated samples in Ringer’s solution was studied by potentiodynamic and linear polarization techniques. Before and after corrosion testing, XRD and SEM/EDS techniques were used for the analysis of phases formed and to investigate microstructure/compositional changes in the coated specimens. The cellular response was analyzed by the MTT (microculture tetrazolium) assay. The results showed that both the HA, as well as, the HA/TiO₂ coatings significantly increased the corrosion resistance of the substrate material. The HA coating was found to be more biocompatible as compared to the un-coated and HA/TiO₂-coated Ti-6Al-4V alloy.