Characterization of SiO2 sol-gel coated Ti6Al4V alloy obtained by using TEOS and GPTMS

Abstract

Synthesis of silicon oxide (SiO2) via the sol-gel method and SiO2 coating ability on to Ti6Al4V alloy were investigated, in the novel study. Ti6Al4V alloy is the most used alloy in biomedical applications due to its many advantages. However, it has a minor disadvantage like releasing ions into the human body. In this study, the substrate material Ti6Al4V alloy samples were coated using the sol-gel method with alkoxysilane solutions (tetraethyl orthosilicate, TEOS; Si(OC2H5)4 and glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, GPTMS; C9H20O5Si) containing the unit of prepared Si(OR)n after the surface preparations were made. The prepared solutions were examined using thermal analysis methods and the process temperatures to be applied to the coatings were determined according to the results of the analysis. Coated samples were subjected to aging, drying, and sintering processes at specified temperatures. The morphologies and structures of the samples were investigated by using a scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sol-gel coating ability of the silicon oxide on the surface of the Ti6Al4V alloys has been discussed. The results demonstrate that cracks were observed in coating produced by TEOS precursor whereas the coatings used GPTMS precursor exhibited crack-free surface independently of dipping number. The crack formation tended to reduce with increasing dipping number of coatings produced by TEOS precursor. Distances between coating islets gradually became smaller as the number of dippings increased, and the continuity of the coatings increased. It has been observed that SiO2 coating layers produced with GPTMS are obtained in a more continuous and crack-free form than the layers produced with TEOS.