Structure, microstructure, and selected mechanical properties of Ti-Zr-Mo alloys for biomedical applications

New titanium alloys for biomedical applications have been developed primarily with the addition of Nb, Ta, Mo, and Zr, because those elements stabilize the β phase and they don’t cause cytotoxicity in the organism. The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of molybdenum on the structure, microstructure, and selected mechanical properties of Ti-15Zr-xMo (x = 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%) alloys. The samples were produced in an arc-melting furnace with inert argon atmosphere, and they were hot-rolled and homogenized. The samples were characterized using chemical, structural, and microstructural analysis. The mechanical analysis was made using Vickers microhardness and Young’s modulus measurements. The compositions of the alloys were sensitive to the molybdenum concentration, indicating the presence of α’+α”+β phases in the Ti-15Zr-5Mo alloy, α”+β in the Ti-15Zr-10Mo alloy, and β phase in the Ti-15Zr-15Mo and Ti-15Zr-20Mo alloys. The mechanical properties showed favorable values for biomedical application in the alloys presenting high hardness and low Young’s modulus compared with CP-Ti.

Diffusion of oxygen in some binary Ti-Based alloys used as biomaterials

Ti and its alloys are widely used as biomaterials. Their main properties are excellent corrosion resistance, relatively low elastic modulus, high specific strength, and good biocompatibility. The development of new Ti alloys with properties favorable for use in the human body is desired. To this end, Ti alloys with Mo, Nb, Zr, and Ta are being developed, because these elements do not cause cytotoxicity. The presence of interstitial elements (such as oxygen and nitrogen) induces strong changes in the elastic properties of the material, which leads to hardening or softening of the alloy. By means of anelastic spectroscopy, we are able to obtain information on the diffusion of these interstitial elements present in the crystalline lattice. In this paper, the effect of oxygen on the anelastic properties of some binary Ti-based alloys was analyzed with anelastic spectroscopy. The diffusion coefficients, pre-exponential factors, and activation energies were calculated for oxygen and nitrogen in these alloys.

Estudo da resistência à corrosão de ligas Ni-Cr-Mo-Ta E Ni-Cr-Mo-W em solução NaF 0,08 mol/L, pH 4,7 para aplicações odontológicas

A large number of metal alloys are used in Dentistry for the manufacture of fixed and removable dentures. In the oral cavity, these structures are exposed to a chemically aggressive medium, like saliva and mechanical efforts, like mastication. In addition, acidic solutions containing fluoride ions are also frequently used in dental treatments to prevent dental plates and decays development. In this context, it was considered important to investigate the influence that a fourth element could exert when added to the ternary alloy Ni-Cr-Mo, largely used in Brazil. Therefore, electrochemical tests were done to evaluate the resistance to corrosion of quaternary alloy 65Ni-25Cr-5Mo-5Ta and 65Ni-25Cr-5Mo-5W in NaF solution 0,08mol / L, pH = 4.7. For greater understanding the microstructure and morphology of alloys were studied, through metallographic analysis, using optics microscopy and electron microscopy scanning. For the electrochemical tests were applied techniques traditionally used in corrosion researches, such as: potential measures in open circuit (OCP) and cyclic polarization (CP). It was found that both quaternary alloys showed very similar results. Comparing these quaternary alloys with the ternary 65Ni-25Cr-10Mo, it was found that the quaternary alloys exhibit greater resistance to corrosion, in other words, less passivation current density than the ternary alloy, showing that it is advantageous to add a fourth element in the alloy