SURFACE SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TITANIUM IMPLANT MATERIALS

Titanium is a relatively widely and successfully used biomaterial, esp ecially in the dental and orthopaedic fields. The surface oxide which almost always covers titanium is considered to be an important factor for the favourable tissue response obtained with Ti implants. This pap er describes the properties of surface oxides on Ti by discussing some selected examples of surface spectroscopy analyses of Ti surfaces pre pared by different methods, including; clinical procedures (machining, solvent cleaning, sterilization), electrochemical methods (electropol ishing and anodic oxidation), thermal oxidation in air, and nitrogen-i on implantation. The main analytical techniques are scanning AES and X PS (ESCA). Complementary information is obtained from secondary ion ma ss spectrometry (SIMS), Rutherford backscattering (RES), and nuclear r eaction analysis (NRA). Selected spectroscopic results are discussed w ith reference to microstructural studies published elsewhere. Comparis on between pure Ti and Ti6Al4V alloy shows many similarities, but also some significant differences between the two materials. The paper als o comments briefly on surface contamination and cleaning, and discusse s some selected examples of biological studies on different titanium s urfaces.