Electrochemical Preparation of Porous Ti–13Zr–13Nb Alloy and It's Corrosion Behavior in Ringer's Solution

Abstract

A ternary titanium alloy (Ti-13Zr-13Nb (TZN)) was prepared by direct electrochemical reduction of a sintered TiO₂-ZrO₂-Nb₂O₅ mixture in molten CaCl₂ at 850℃ with an energy consumption of 17 kWh/kg-alloy. The electrolytic Ti alloy was well sintered with bright metallic luster, and it was in α+β dual phase and of porous structure with designed composition. The corrosion behaviors of the obtained TZN in Ringer's solution were tested by open circuit potential and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The results show that the corrosion rate of the porous electrolytic TZN alloy is lower than that of commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti) after being immersed in Ringer's solution for 10 days. The one-step electro-reduction of mixed oxide powers in molten salts could be an energy efficient and straightforward way to prepare porous implantable alloys.