Effect of electrochemical modification of titanium hydride fraction on oxygen content in surface and deep layers

Abstract The paper presents a study of the microstructure and oxygen concentration in the surface and deep layers of fractions of unmodified titanium hydride and titanium hydride modified by electrodeposited layers of Ti and Cu at temperatures of 300 °C–900 °C. The composition of the oxide layer and the concentration of titanium and oxygen atoms are estimated. It is shown that an increase in the thickness and compaction of the oxide layer with increasing temperature prevents the penetration of oxygen into the deep layers of the unmodified fraction of titanium hydride. Modification of titanium hydride by electrochemical deposition of metallic titanium at a temperature of 700 °C reduces the oxygen concentration in titanium hydride at a layer depth of 50 μm from 35 wt% to 12.5 wt%. Electrodeposition of coatings based on titanium and copper at 700 °C reduces the oxygen concentration to 9.2 wt%, which may be due to the protective mechanism of the formed copper titanate layer. At 900 °C, in the modification layer based on titanium and copper, due to the eutectoid transformation of the β-phase of titanium, the process of contact melting occurs and a multiphase zone is formed. The oxygen concentration at a layer depth of 50 μm is no more than 12.4 wt%.