Simultaneous Carburization, Oxidation, and Nitridation of Titanium Surface Using Ablation by Femtosecond Laser in n‐Heptane

Abstract

Changes in the structure and composition of bare titanium (Ti) surface have been investigated using femtosecond laser ablation in n‐heptane environment. The efficient formation of a titanium carbide (TiC) layer and the presence of high carbon concentration in the photoformed layer covering the Ti surface are demonstrated. Surprisingly, the synthesized ceramic layers are found to contain also nitrided and oxidized species (TiN, TiCN) due to transport of air to the titanium surface during laser ablation. Additionally, by tuning the experimental conditions, how to delicately control two key surface characteristics like surface morphology and composition is showed. Remarkably, the photoformed ceramic layers exhibit low cytotoxicity toward human cells and improve corrosion inhibition efficiency compared to pristine Ti. The findings reveal deep insights into the formation of ceramic layers on Ti surface and, thus, help in the development of novel materials for a whole host of engineering and biomedical applications.