In this work, three titanium alloys have been studied by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine their surface topography. The alloys investigated were Ti–6Al–7Nb, Ti–13Nb–13Zr, and Ti–15Zr–4Nb, with no presence of the toxic element V, and with a possible use as biomaterials for osteoarticular prostheses. These alloys were studied at room temperature and also after a thermal treatment at 750 °C during 24 h, which produces a protective surface oxide layer. The aim of the present work is to compare the surface structure and morphology of the alloys, both as-received and after the oxide layer was formed at elevated temperature.

This work has been supported by the Project 07N-0050-1999 of the Spanish “Programa de Tecnologı́a de los Materiales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid” and the Project MAT99-0201 from CICYT of Spain. One of the authors (A. Gutiérrez) thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologı́a for financial support through the “Ramón y Cajal” Programme.

Peer reviewed