Laser coating of hafnium on Ti6Al4 for biomedical applications

Materials used for biomedical applications must possess specific properties, in particular biocompatibility and corrosion resistance1. Metallic materials are used extensively for biomedical applications. Main metallic biomaterial used are stainless steels, Cobalt based alloys, titanium and its alloys2. Titanium alloys are considered to be the most attractive metallic materials for biomedical applications1. This is due to their excellent specific strength, lower modulus, superior tissue compatibility, and higher corrosion resistance3. Commercially pure titanium is considered to be the best biocompatible metallic material due to its surface properties resulting in the spontaneous build-up of a stable and inert oxide layer. Commercially pure titanium and Ti6Al4V have both been used as implant materials. Though Ti6Al4V has been used as implant material, Matsuno et al has reported that vanadium (V) and aluminium (Al) can dissolve from the alloy and cause growth inhibition and possibly Alzheimer’s disease respectively4.