Ion implantation of surgical Ti-6Al-4V for improved resistance to wear-accelerated corrosion.

The influence of nitrogen-ion implantation on the wear-accelerated corrosion behavior of surgical Ti-6Al-4V was studied. Nonpassivated and prepassivated unimplanted Ti-6Al-4V specimens were employed as controls for comparison. Corrosion rates as a function of time at open-circuit corrosion potentials were electrochemically measured in saline and serum solutions under both static and wear conditions. The wear parameters simulated those of a total artificial hip under average walking conditions. The results indicated that prepassivation of the control material was beneficial under static-corrosion conditions, but not under wear-corrosion conditions. The nitrogen-ion implantation process was found to significantly improve the material's resistance to wear-accelerated corrosion in both saline and serum solutions.