First results in cathodic electrodeposition TiO2 on 304 stainless steel specimens

Abstract

To provide bioactivity a thin layer of TiO2 was electrodeposited on a stainless steel 304 by an electrochemical
simple method using a titanium alloy soluble anode in an acetone-I2 solution. With this method technological inconveniences
were surpassed, since the electrolytic process is carried out in a single step with a simple equipment used in Electrochemistry
and therefore cheap. Also, it is possible to save inherent inconveniences to other techniques as for example:
the precursor material of TiO2 powders and the use of relatively toxic organic solvents. The TiO2 layer was characterized
by optic, scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). The results point out that as
the current increases, the ruggedness increases. Starting from 4 V and short times (although generally bigger than
10 min) good deposits were achieved. Under potentiostatic regime the best experimental conditions were: 15 V during
15 or 20 min and 50 V-5 min . In general, better deposits are achieved at high potentials and short operation times. In
the electronic microscope it was shown that the deposits are not porous and cover almost all the surface, although areas
without deposit are observed. The cracks were present when the thickness was next to 1 μm . For that reason the deposits
should be fine to avoid the flakes and cracks. The EDS analysis pointed out that some Ti-oxide was obtained.