The influence of the pure metal components of four different casting alloys on the electrochemical properties of the alloys

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the pure metal components of the four different casting alloys on the corrosion behaviors of these alloys tested.MethodsPotentiodynamic polarization tests were carried out on four different types of casting alloys and their pure metals at 37 °C in an artificial saliva solution. The ions released from the alloys into the solutions during the polarization test were also determined quantitatively using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).ResultsNi–Cr (M1) and Co–Cr (M2) alloys had a more homogenous structure than palladium based (M3) and gold based (M4) alloys in terms of the pitting potentials of the casting alloys and those of the pure metals composing the alloys. The total ion concentration released from M3 and M4 was less than from M1 and M2. This may be because M3 and M4 alloys contained noble metals. It was also found that the noble metals in the M3 and M4 samples decreased the current density in the anodic branch of the potentiodynamic polarization curves. In other words, noble metals contributed positively to dental materials.SignificanceCorrosion resistance of the casting alloys can be affected by the pure metals they are composed of. Au and Pd based noble alloys dissolved less than Ni–Cr and Co–Cr based alloys.