Some thoughts after initial literature review

The subject I will be tackling during next four years is related to application of commercially pure titanium as a structural biomaterial for modern dental implants. Pure titanium is known for its excellent biocompatible properties and corrosion resistance. It also isn’t magnetic and it does not easily conduct heat or electricity. It isn’t however strong enough to be used as a implant material. Therefore it is often alloyed with additives such as aluminum and vanadium or more recently niobium, zirconium and tantalum [1]. Other methods of metal strengthening, non-relying on use of toxic and poisonous additives (or additives in general) consist of introduction of dislocations and grain refinement by means of severe plastic deformation. So far method used most extensively for titanium grain refinement is a severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique called Equal Chanel Angular Pressing (ECAP). ECAP produces ultra-fine grained titanium with strength properties substantially improved over standard coarse grained Ti, but still worse than those of Ti–6Al–4V alloy [2]. There are reports of nano-crystalline titanium with even higher strengths obtained by ECAP conduced in room temperatures [3] or by means of hydrostatic extrusion [4]. However there is still little or no quantitative information regarding microstructure of titanium processed by such techniques. Orientation Imaging Microscopy examinations of titanium produced by these as well as other methods (for instance KOBO method), might substantially improve understanding of those materials, and hopefully this is the kind of research I will be able to conduct in the proximate future.

In October I've also had opportunity to participate in workshop on „Advanced Electron Microscopy Methods Applied to Investigations of Nanomaterials” which was held by Warsaw University of Technology (Warsaw 06-07.10.2011).

[1] Mitsuo Niinomi, Materials Science and Engineering A243 (1998) 231–236
[2] V. V. Stolyarov et al., Materials Science and Engineering A303 (2001) 82–89
[3] Xicheng Zhao et al., Scripta Materialia 59 (2008) 542–545
[4] W. Pachla et al., Journal of Materials Processing Technology 205 (2008) 173–182