Influence of the Ti alloy substrate on the anodic oxidation in an environmentally-friendly electrolyte

The influence of the Ti alloy substrate (α, β, α + β) on the anodic oxidation process was studied. The surface morphology, composition and crystalline structure were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was shown that the surface morphology and crystalline structure of anodic oxide films were considerably affected by the Ti alloy substrate. The surface morphologies of the oxide films retain their matrix microstructure characteristics. The oxide film on the residual β phase contains a trace amount of V, Zr, Mo element for TA15. Compared to the secondary α phase, the β phase has a higher degree of oxidation for TB6. The oxide film has the higher Al content on the secondary α phase, while the oxide film formed on β-phase has the higher V content. The XPS results show that the Al, Mo, V, Zr alloy elements of TA15 are involved in anodic oxidation and exist as Al2O3, MoO3, V2O5, ZrO2. Likewise, the Al, V alloy elements of TB6 are involved in anodic oxidation and exist as Al2O3, V2O5, but Fe element is not involved in anodic oxidation. The anodic oxide films are partly crystallized and mainly amorphous for the three kinds of titanium alloys. The TA15 anodic oxide film has the highest crystal content, and TB6 has the least.