Electrochemical behaviour of titanium surface-alloyed with palladium and nitrogen in a simulated physiological solution

The corrosion resistance of titanium surface-alloyed with palladium and nit rogen obtained by different techniques of surface modification was investig ated in a simulated physiological solution. Ti-Pd laser-surface-alloys were prepared by ion beam and laser beam techniques, whereas TiN surface-alloys were obtained by laser-gas-alloying. The results proved that the Ti-Pd las er-surface-alloys have the better corrosion resistance in the quasi-active state. In the passive stale, stable surface-alloys prepared by ion-beam-mix ing (2 x 10(16) Ne+/cm(2)) have the best corrosion resistance. The mechanis m by which palladium increased the corrosion resistance of titanium is base d on the mixed-potential theory. (C) 1999 Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.