Increase in Corrosion Resistance of Commercial Pure Titanium by Anode Plasma Electrolytic Nitriding

Abstract

Features of the anode electrolytic plasma processing of commercial pure titanium and its alloys in aqueous solutions of ammonium chloride and ammonia additives are studied. It is identified that structure of modified layer contains an external TiO2 or TiO layer with micropores of up to 100 nm and a diffusion sub-layer after nitriding in the solution with the ammonia addition. Some increase in the surface microhardness is found. The plasma electrolytic treatment of titanium makes it possible to enhance its corrosion resistance by short-term (5 min) saturation with nitrogen at 750 °C in an electrolyte containing 5% ammonia and 10% ammonium chloride. The oxide coating formed during the anodic treatment has a positive effect on the corrosion resistance of titanium and results in reduce of the corrosion rate by two orders under continuous tests. Saturation of titanium samples with nitrogen leads to an increase in their strength properties after corrosion tests with a slight decrease in ductility. An additional advantage of this coating is to reduce of leaching of alloying elements from samples in corrosive environments.