Thin TiO2 Nanocoating of Porous Titanium through Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering to Improve the Biological Response of Orthopedic Implants

: The present study applied a TiO2 nanocoating on a titanium foam substrate produced by powder metallurgy through magnetron sputtering. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to investigate the surface morphologies of the porous specimens and pre- and post-coating phases, respectively. Also, the growth and proliferation of MG-63 cells (osteoblasts) and their attachment and proliferation on the coated porous titanium specimen (relative to the uncoated specimens) were studied using in vitro and methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) cytotoxicity tests. Considering the porous macrostructure of the coated titanium specimen and the nanostructure of the TiO2 coating on the porous surface and macro-pore walls, the coated specimen was found to be effective in the biocompatibility improvement of dental and orthopedic implants.

Effect of nickel on formation of transition layer during liquid-phase aluminizing of titanium

Titanium—aluminum, titanium—foam aluminum composites and bimetals obtained by liquid-phase methods, are increasingly used in industry. At the liquid-phase methods as result of the reaction diffusion of titanium and aluminum is formed transitional intermetallic layer at the phase boundary of the composite, which reduces the mechanical properties of titanium and composite. To reduce the growth rate of the intermetallic layer between the layers of the composite and increase its mechanical properties, it is proposed to alloy aluminum melt with nickel. The studies of the interaction of titanium and molten aluminum alloyed with nickel made it possible to establish the effect of temperature and aluminizing time on the thickness, chemical and phase compositions of the transition intermetallic layer. The tests showed the effect of the temperature of the aluminum melt, the nickel concentration on the strength properties of titanium—aluminum bimetal.