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Phase-Tunable Fabrication of Consolidated (α+β)-TiZr Alloys for Biomedical Applications through Molten Salt Electrolysis of Solid Oxides

Junjun Peng†, Hualin Chen†, Xianbo Jin*†, Tao Wang†, Dihua Wang† and George Z. Chen*†‡

^† College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Power Sources, Wuhan University, Wuhan,430072, People’s Republic of China

^‡ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

Chem. Mater., 2009, 21 (21), pp 5187–5195

DOI: 10.1021/cm902073g

Publication Date (Web): October 19, 2009

*Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: +86 27 68756319 (X.B.J.), +44 (0)115 9514171 (G.Z.C.); Fax: +86 27 68756319 (X.B.J.), +44 (0)115 9514115 (G.Z.C.); E-mail: xbjin@whu.edu.cn (X.B.J.), george.chen@nottingham.ac.uk (G.Z.C.).

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of a solid TiO₂−ZrO₂ mixture (molar ratio = 1:1) to the TiZr alloys in a consolidated porous structure was studied by constant cell voltage electrolysis in molten CaCl₂ at 900 °C. For the first time, and surprisingly, it was found that tuning the α- and β-phases in the TiZr alloys could be easily realized by controlling the electrolysis time or, specifically, the oxygen content in the alloys. Oxygen acted as a phase-transition inhibitor from the high-temperature β-TiZr to the low-temperature α-TiZr, leading to metastable β-TiZr or (α+β)-TiZr as the product at room temperature. However, if the oxygen content decreased to <1100 ppm, only α-TiZr was collected, even when the electrolytic alloy was directly quenched in water. The consolidated porous (α+β)-TiZr alloys possessed elastic moduli in the range of 20−40 GPa, matching closely to that of natural bone (10−30 GPa). They also exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in the Ringer solution. These novel findings promise a simple, one-step, low-energy, and environmentally friendly electrochemical process for the production of β-phase containing TiZr alloys as medical implant materials without any added expensive and/or bio-incompatible elements.

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History

Published In Issue November 10, 2009
Article ASAPOctober 19, 2009
Received: July 09, 2009
Revised: September 12, 2009

Article

Phase-Tunable Fabrication of Consolidated (α+β)-TiZr Alloys for Biomedical Applications through Molten Salt Electrolysis of Solid Oxides