Tribo-mechanical properties and corrosion behavior investigation of anodized Ti-V alloy

In the work presented in this manuscript, a self-organized TiO₂ nanotube array film was produced by electrochemical anodization of a Ti-V alloy in an electrolyte containing NH₄F/H₃PO₄ and then annealed at different temperatures under different atmospheres. The effect of annealing temperature in different atmospheres on the morphology of the film was analyzed, and the tribo-mechanical property and corrosion behavior of TiO₂ were investigated. The morphological features and phase compositions were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. The results indicated that the TiO₂ characteristic peaks did not appear after anodization because of the intrinsic amorphous feature. However, highly crystalline TiO₂ (anatase and rutile) was produced after annealing from 200 to 600 °C. In addition, there was an improvement in the wear resistance of the Ti-V alloy due to the high hardness and low coefficient of friction of the TiO₂ nanotubes' coating. Moreover, the corrosion behaviors of TiO₂ coated and uncoated substrates were evaluated in the synthetic medium, and it was confirmed that the corrosion resistance of the TiO₂-coated Ti-V alloy, annealed at 200 °C in the atmosphere, was significantly higher when compared to the uncoated sample.