SURFACE MODIFICATION OF NITINOL BY CHEMICAL AND ELECTROCHEMICAL ETCHING

In this paper, Nitinol, an equiatomic binary alloy of nickel and titanium, was surface modified for its potential biomedical applications by chemical and electrochemical etching. The main objective of the surface modification is to reduce the nickel content on the surface of Nitinol and simultaneously to a rough surface microstructure. As a result, better biocompatibility and better cell attachment would be achieved. The effect of the etching parameters was investigated, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). The corrosion property of modified Nitinol surfaces was investigated by electrochemical work station. After etching, the Ni content in the surface layer has been reduced and the oxidation of Ti has been enhanced.