Surface characterization of anodized zirconium for biomedical applications

ANDREA GOMEZ SANCHEZ; WIDO H. SCHREINER; GUSTAVO DUFFO; SILVIA CERE

APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2011 vol. 257 p. 6397 - 6405

0169-4332

Mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of zirconium make this material suitable for biomedicalimplants. Its good in vivo performance is mainly due to the presence of a protective oxide layer thatminimizes corrosion rate, diminishes the amount of metallic ions released to the biological media andfacilitates the osseointegration process.Since the implant surface is the region in contact with living tissues, the characteristics of the surfacefilm are of great interest. Surface modification is a route to enhance both biocompatibility and corrosionresistance of permanent implant materials. Anodizing is presented as an interesting process to modifymetal surfaces with good reproducibility and independence of the geometry.In this work the surface of zirconium before and after anodizing in 1 mol/L phosphoric acid solution ata fixed potential between 3 and 30 V, was characterized by means of several surface techniques.It was found that during anodization the surface oxide grows with an inhomogeneous coverage onzirconium surface, modifying the topography. The incorporation of P from the electrolyte to the surfaceoxide during the anodizing process changes the surface chemistry. After 30 days of immersion inSimulated Body Fluid (SBF) solution, Ca-P rich compounds were present on anodized zirconium