Citric Acid in the Passivation of Titanium Dental Implants: Corrosion Resistance and Bactericide Behavior

The passivation of titanium dental implants is performed in order to clean the surface and obtain a thin layer of protective oxide (TiO2) on the surface of the material in order to improve its behavior against corrosion and prevent the release of ions into the physiological environment. The most common chemical agent for the passivation process is hydrochloric acid (HCl), and in this work we intend to determine the capacity of citric acid as a passivating and bactericidal agent. Discs of commercially pure titanium (c.p.Ti) grade 4 were used with different treatments: control (Ctr), passivated by HCl, passivated by citric acid at 20% at different immersion times (20, 30, and 40 min) and a higher concentration of citric acid (40%) for 20 min. Physical-chemical characterization of all of the treated surfaces has been carried out by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy, and the ‘Sessile Drop’ technique in order to obtain information about different parameters (topography, elemental composition, roughness, wettability, and surface energy) that are relevant to understand the biological response of the material. In order to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the different treatments under physiological conditions, open circuit potential and potentiodynamic tests have been carried out. Additionally, ion release tests were realized by means of ICP-MS. The antibacterial behavior has been evaluated by performing bacterial adhesion tests, in which two strains have been used: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram–) and Streptococcus sanguinis (Gram+). After the adhesion test, a bacterial viability study has been carried out (‘Life and Death’) and the number of colony-forming units has been calculated with SEM images. The results obtained show that the passivation with citric acid improves the hydrophilic character, corrosion resistance, and presents a bactericide character in comparison with the HCl treatment. The increasing of citric acid concentration improves the bactericide effect but decreases the corrosion resistance parameters. Ion release levels at high citric acid concentrations increase very significantly. The effect of the immersion times studied do not present an effect on the properties.

Wearproof Composite Coatings on Ti

In this work the formation of protective coatings on VT1-0 commercially pure titanium by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) and subsequent fluoropolymer treatment is presented. The structure, morphology, corrosion, and mechanical properties of the formed composite coatings were studied. It was established that PEO coatings are an excellent basis for the formation of a solid composite layer with high adhesion to its surface. The presence of polytetrafluoroethylene in the composition of the coating reduces the corrosion current density by 4 orders of magnitude and increases the wear resistance by 2 orders of magnitude in comparison with the base PEO coating.

Slippage during high-pressure torsion of commercially pure titanium and application of accumulative HPT to it

A new efficient method was used to find that in the case of high-pressure torsion of commercially pure titanium, accumulation of shear strain in Ti does not occur due to slippage of anvils. Despite this, micro-hardness increases as the number of turns n increases, and Ti structure is refined more intensively. High-pressure torsion is accompanied by a high-pressure ω-phase formation. However, the content of ω-phase changes non-monotonously with an increase in the number of turns. First, while number of turns is less than n=5, the ω-phase content reaches 50%. Upon further deformation, the ω-phase content decreases to 15% for n=20. A new accumulative high-pressure torsion method is applied to commercially pure titanium for the first time. Accumulative high-pressure torsion leads to the strongest transformation of the structure and an increase in hardness, since stronger real deformation occurs due to composition of compression and torsion strain cycles.

Исследование влияния обработки лазерными импульсами наносекундной длительности на микроструктуру и сопротивление усталости технически чистого титана

The effect of treatment with nanosecond laser pulses on the fatigue resistance of plate samples of recrystallized (grain size of the order of 2-3 µm) commercially pure titanium (grade VT1-0) under cyclic tensile loading is studied. The results of investigations by methods of scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the microstructure of the subsurface layer of the alloy under study after exposure to nanosecond laser irradiation and subsequent fatigue tests are presented.

Metal allergy hypersensitivity after posterior thoracic spinal fusion: A case report and review of the literature

Background: Spine surgeons rarely consider metal allergies when placing hardware, as implants are thought to be inert. Case Description: A 32-year-old male presented with a skin rash attributed to the trace metal in his spinal fusion instrumentation. Patch testing revealed sensitivities to cobalt, manganese, and chromium. He underwent hardware removal and replacement with constructs of commercially pure titanium. His skin findings resolved at 2 weeks after surgery and were stable at 6 weeks. Conclusion: Hypersensitivity to metal (i.e., metal allergy) should be considered before performing instrumented spinal fusions.

Improvement of Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of Commercially Pure Titanium Using Alumina PEO Coatings

In this study, the surface of commercially pure titanium (Cp-Ti) was covered by a 21–95 µm-thick aluminum oxide layer using plasma electrolytic oxidation. Coating characterization revealed the formation of nodular and granular α- and γ-Al2O3 phases with minor amounts of TiAl2O5 and Na2Ti4O9 which yielded a maximum 49.0 GPa hardness and 50 N adhesive critical load. The corrosion resistance behavior in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution of all plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings was found to be two orders of magnitude higher compared to bare Ti substrate.