Structure and magnetic characteristics of iron-modified titania layers on titanium

•The coatings obtained by PEO and post-impregnation were compared with those formed by one stage PEO.•Metallic Fe-based microcrystallites are in the pores of coatings after one-stage PEO.•Fe-oxide disperses particles are on the surface of the coatings after post-impregnation.•Coercive force value is 50–70 Oe for the coatings obtained by combination of PEO and impregnation.

Iron-containing titania coatings manifesting ferromagnetic characteristics have been formed on titanium by combining plasma electrolytic oxidation with impregnation technique. Iron is concentrated in the composition of dispersed particles of a size of 1–10 μm distributed over the coating surface. The values of the coercive force of ‘coating/titanium’ samples are equal to 20–70 Oe. The composition, structure and magnetic properties of the samples obtained by combining the methods of PEO and impregnation with subsequent air annealing have been compared with those formed by one-stage PEO technique. The impregnation and annealing can be applied to impart specific magnetic characteristics to various functional PEO-coatings.