Tribo-Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior Investigation of Anodized Ti–V Alloy

In the work presented in this manuscript, a self-organized TiO2 nanotube array film was produced by electrochemical anodization of a Ti–V alloy in an electrolyte containing NH4F/H3PO4 and then annealed at different temperatures under different atmospheres. The effect of annealing temperature in different atmospheres on the morphology of the film was analyzed, and the tribo-mechanical property and corrosion behavior of TiO2 were investigated. The morphological features and phase compositions were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. The results indicated that the TiO2 characteristic peaks did not appear after anodization because of the intrinsic amorphous feature. However, highly crystalline TiO2 (anatase and rutile) was produced after annealing from 200 to 600 °C. In addition, there was an improvement in the wear resistance of the Ti–V alloy due to the high hardness and low coefficient of friction of the TiO2 nanotubes’ coating. Moreover, the corrosion behaviors of TiO2 coated and uncoated substrates were evaluated in the synthetic medium, and it was confirmed that the corrosion resistance of the TiO2-coated Ti–V alloy, annealed at 200 °C in the atmosphere, was significantly higher when compared to the uncoated sample.