Structural changes in TiO2 films formed by anodizing of electro-polished titanium

Abstract

Anodizing is a surface modification technique that is applied to growing oxide films on Ti to accelerate the osseointegration of an implant. Besides the surface roughness, the crystalline structure of these films can affect its performance as a biomaterial. For this reason, this technique has been refined to produce crystalline films without requiring heat treatments. For this purpose, TiO2 films were grown on Ti (grade 2) by anodizing with direct current at different potentials. Images obtained by optical microscopy with polarized light revealed a granular microstructure in various colors, as consequence of different crystalline orientations of the grains and films thickness. Raman spectroscopy showed that the films crystallinity is affected by variations in the applied potential and anodizing time.