Electrochemical Dissolution Behavior of Titanium and Titanium-based Alloys in Different Electrolytes

Commercially pure titanium (titanium grade 2), Ti90Al6V4 (titanium grade 5) and intermetallic Ti60Al40 (γ-TiAl) were investigated concerning their electrochemical dissolution behavior in aqueous potassium bromide-, sodium chloride- and sodium nitrate electrolytes with different pH-values. Therefore, in a modified micro-flow cell different electrochemical experiments like cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry were performed. The experimental results show that the dissolution behavior is influenced by the composition of the material and the electrolyte conditions. An increasing titanium content impedes the electrochemical dissolution of the material. Halide containing electrolytes are preferred for the machining of titanium alloys.