Corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility of Ti-20Zr-10Nb-4Ta alloy surface modified by a focused fiber laser

Abstract

The corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility of Ti-20Zr-10Nb-4Ta (TZNT) alloy modified by surface laser treatment were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements indicated that laser treatment on TZNT alloy generated groove morphologies with the width of ∼40 μm and the depth of ∼10 μm on the surface. The water contact angles along the groove direction decreased by 51% compared with that of the untreated alloy. The laser treatment promoted the oxidation of metallic Ti, Zr and Nb and produced more stable oxides on surface. The corrosion potential increased by 50% and corrosion current density decreased by 72% compared with that of the untreated alloy in the anodic polarization test for the alloy in Hank’s solution at 37°C. This indicated the improvement of the corrosion resistance by laser treatment. The cytotoxicity testing results showed that the laser-treated TZNT alloy performed similar MC3T3-E1 cell viability compared with the untreated alloy. The cells displayed oriented growth along the groove direction due to the increased hydrophilicity. This novel material may be a new candidate in orthopedics and dentistry implantations fields.