Durable medical pure titanium superhydrophobic surface: preparation and performance analysis

The preparation of superhydrophobic coatings on the surface of medical metallic materials can enhance wear resistance and provide corrosion protection. To overcome the challenges of complex preparation processes and high costs, we employed a simple hydrothermal method combined with fluorination treatment to create a superhydrophobic coating on a pure titanium substrate. This coating exhibited excellent corrosion resistance but relatively poor mechanical durability. To address this issue, we heat-treated the test samples to improve wear resistance by altering the crystalline phase. After heat treatment at 700 °C, both corrosion resistance and wear resistance significantly improved. Consequently, the superhydrophobic coating with enhanced wear and corrosion resistance can effectively prevent the corrosion of medical metals. A novel method for enhancing wear and corrosion resistance by altering the crystalline phase through heat treatment.