Effect of Cr and Cu addition on corrosion behavior of Ni-Ti alloys.

The corrosion behavior of three Ni-Ti alloys with compositions as commercial super-elastic orthodontic wires was investigated using polished plate specimens. Corrosion resistance was estimated by potentiodynamic polarization measurement in 0.9% NaCl and 1% lactic acid solutions and analysis of released metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The influence of Cr and Cu addition on the structure of the surface oxide film was examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Addition of 0.19 at% Cr had little effect on the structure of the oxide films and the corrosion resistance of the Ni-Ti alloys. For Ni-Ti-5Cu-0.3Cr alloy, the metallic Cu was enriched at the alloy/oxide film interface, resulting in increased susceptibility to pitting corrosion above +1000 mV. However, the passive current density and the amount of released Ni were not significantly increased by the addition of Cu. The study showed that small amounts of Cr and Cu added to change the super-elastic characteristics do not change the corrosion resistance of the Ni-Ti alloy freely immersed in simulated physiological environments.