Electrochemical behavior of near-beta titanium biomedical alloys in phosphate buffer saline solution

• Study of near-β titanium alloys (Ti–Nb–Sn) for biomedical applications
• Influence of Sn content on the passivation mechanisms of Ti30Nb alloy
• Microstructural and phase characterization of the Ti30NbxSn alloys

The electrochemical behavior of three different near-β titanium alloys (composed by Ti, Nb and Sn) obtained by powder metallurgy for biomedical applications has been investigated. Different electrochemical and microscopy techniques were used to study the influence of the chemical composition (Sn content) and the applied potential on the microstructure and the corrosion mechanisms of those titanium alloys. The addition of Sn below 4 wt.% to the titanium powder improves the microstructural homogeneity and generates an alloy with high corrosion resistance with low elastic modulus, being more suitable as a biomaterial. When the Sn content is above 4%, the corrosion resistance considerably decreases by increasing the passive dissolution rate; this effect is enhanced with the applied potential.