Surface treatments on 3D printed Ti6Al4V biomedical plates to enhance corrosion resistance in simulated physiological solutions and under inflammatory conditions

Abstract

Ti6Al4V biomedical plates were fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion using different process parameters. A slight influence of the laser energy density on mechanical properties and microstructure was revealed. Chemical etching allowed to make the surface of 3D samples uniform removing also spheres of unfused material. After etching some samples were anodized in calcium acetate and beta-glycerolphosphate containing solution to grow a Ca and P containing porous TiO2 layers. The chemical etching improved the corrosion resistance of the alloy in simulated body fluid, while only after anodizing the alloys resulted to be corrosion resistant under inflammatory and severe inflammatory conditions.