The Ti15Mo alloy has been studied towards long-term corrosion performance in saline solution at 37°C using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The physical and chemical characterization of the material were also investigated. The as-received Ti15Mo alloy exhibits a single β-phase structure. The thickness of single-layer structured oxide presented on its surface is ~4 nm. Impedance measurements revealed that the Ti15Mo alloy is characterized by spontaneous passivation in the solution containing chloride ions and formation of a double-layer structured oxide composed of a dense interlayer being the barrier layer against corrosion and porous outer layer. The thickness of this oxide layer, estimated based on the impedance data increases up to ~6 nm during 78 days of exposure. The observed fall in value of the log|Z|f = 0.01 Hz indicates a decrease in pitting corrosion resistance of Ti15Mo alloy in saline solution along with the immersion time. The detailed EIS study on the kinetics and mechanism of corrosion process and the capacitive behavior of the Ti15Mo electrode | passive layer | saline solution system was based on the concept of equivalent electrical circuit with respect to the physical meaning of the applied circuit elements. Potentiodynamic studies up to 9 V vs. SCE and SEM analysis show no presence of pitting corrosion what indicates that the Ti15Mo alloy is promising biomaterial to long-term medical applications.
Poly(glycerol succinate) – PGSu – is one of glycerol polyesters which has focused nowadays the interest of scientists developing new biomaterials. Probably the polyester could be used as a drug carrier or as a cell scaffold in tissue engineering. Due to its potential use in medicine, it is extremely important to develop a synthesis and then optimize it to obtain a material with desired properties. In this work one flask two-step polycondensation of glycerol and succinic anhydride to PGSu is presented. Synthesis was optimized with the simplex method and also described using a second-degree equation with two variables (temperature and time) to better find the optimum conditions. PGSu was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, degree of esterification was determined, and also molecular weight was calculated for each experiment using Carothers equation. A new synthesis route was developed and optimized. Temperature and time influence on molecular weight and esterification degree of obtained polyester are presented. Based on experiments conducted in this work, it was possible to obtain poly(glycerol succinate) with molecular weight of 6.7 kDa.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanical properties of beta type aged Ti-4Mo-4Cr-X (X = V, Sn, Zr) quaternary alloy for use as a cardiovascular stent. Titanium (Ti) alloys were fabricated using a vacuum arc remelting furnace process. To homogenize the specimens of each composition and remove the micro segregation, all cast specimens were subjected to homogenization at 850℃ for 4 h, which was 100℃ higher than the β-transus temperature of 750℃. The tensile strength and elongation of the aged Ti-4Mo-4Cr-X (X = V, Sn, Zr) alloys were increased as compared to the homogenized alloys. In addition, many α/β interface boundaries formed after aging treatment at 450°C, which acted as inhibitors of strain and caused an increase in tensile strength. The elongation of Ti-4Mo-4Cr-X alloys consisting of α + β phases after aging treatment was improved by greater than 30%. Results of a potentiodynamic polarization test showed that the lowest current density of Ti-4Mo-4Cr-4Sn with 1.05 × 10–8 A/cm2 was obtained. The present Ti-4Mo-4Cr-X alloys showed better corrosion characteristics as compared to the 316L stainless steel and L605 (Co-Cr alloy) cardiovascular stent alloys.