Corrosion behavior in SBF for titania coatings on Mg-Ca alloy

TiO(2) coating was obtained by sol-gel method to improve the corrosion resistance of Mg-Ca alloy in human body environment. The corrosion behavior of Mg-1.0 Ca alloy with TiO(2) coating was investigated by electrochemical tests and immersion tests in simulated body fluid (SBF). Bare Mg-1.0 Ca alloy suffered serious attack after immersed in simulated body fluid only for 48 h. While for the Mg-1.0 Ca alloy with TiO(2) coating, the surface almost maintained intact with only several collapses after immersed in SBF for 168 h. The electrochemical test results showed that the free corrosion current (i (corr)) of Mg-1.0 Ca alloy substrate was 3.3275e-2A/cm(2), while the i (corr) of TiO(2) coating was only 1.58549e-5A/cm(2). Therefore, TiO(2) coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of Mg-1.0 Ca alloy in SBF. This enhances the potential of Mg-Ca alloy used as biodegradable orthopedic material.