Biological corrosion behaviour and antibacterial properties of Ti-Cu alloy with different Ti2Cu morphologies for dental applications
Xin Cheng, Nan Wang, Yongnan Chen, Binbin He, Qinyang Zhao, Lei Chen, Yufei Tang, Binli Luo, Yongqing Zhao, Xiaokang Yang
Abstract
The influence of morphology of the Ti2Cu phase on biological corrosion and antibacterial properties of Ti-Cu alloy was investigated by micro-galvanic corrosion. Elongated “micro-galvanic cells” were formed between lamellar Ti2Cu phase (L-Ti2Cu) and α-Ti matrix due to the different Volta potentials. The corrosion rate (Vcorr) of L-Ti2Cu was twice that of granular Ti2Cu phase (G-Ti2Cu) because lamellar Ti2Cu phase had more galvanic interface. The release of Cu2+ ions in L-Ti2Cu was 55 % higher than G-Ti2Cu, reaching 99.5 % of the antibacterial rate in L-Ti2Cu and providing a great potential in clinical application for dental implants.