Morphology of nanotube arrays grown on Ti-35Nb-2Ta-3Zr alloys with different deformations

Nanotubes on Ti-35Nb-2Ta-3Zr alloy with different degrees of deformations in thickness were fabricated by anodization method. The effect of deformations on the morphology, crystal phase and grain size of nanotubes was investigated. Nanotube arrays with uniform diameter were achieved by using ethylene glycol (EG)/NH4F organic electrolyte, indicating the electrolyte composition will influence the arrangement of TiO2 nanotube arrays. With the increasing degree of deformation, the corrosion potential Ecorr of the alloys had a positive displacement, which suggested an enhanced anticorrosion ability and resulted in nanotubes with smaller diameter. After heat treatment, anatase TiO2 was obtained. Due to the existence of lattice distortion, the grain size of TiO2 nanotubes prepared by Ti-35Nb-2Ta-3Zr alloy with deformations was smaller than that of with no deformation. However, when the reductions of alloy increased, there was a tendency to make the grain size larger, which was probably caused by the restriction of the wall thickness of nanotubes. The study about the nanotubes formed on Ti-35Nb-2Ta-3Zr alloy with different deformations provides a basis for its application on the drug-loading by Ti alloy prosthesis artificial joint.