Corrosion and wear-corrosion behavior of NiTi modified by plasma source ion implantation.

The understanding of corrosion behavior in NiTi is critical for the devices using this shape-memory alloy. In order to improve the surface properties of NiTi such as corrosion resistance, plasma source ion implantation (PSII) technique was employed with oxygen as incident ions at three levels of implantation dose (5x10(16), 1x10(17) and 3x10(17) ions/cm(-2)). Pitting corrosion and wear-corrosion behavior of control and PSII-modified Ti-50.7at% Ni alloy were evaluated by cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and wear-corrosion measurements. Surface characterization was used to interpret the different corrosion behavior observed between control and oxygen-implanted samples. Results showed that corrosion behavior was influenced by both heat treatment and surface modification. The best pitting corrosion resistance was observed for samples with Af=21 degrees C modified by oxygen implantation at a dose of 1x10(17) ions/cm(-2). Better wear-corrosion resistance was observed for oxygen-implanted samples.