Influence of the pretreatment and curing of alkoxysilanes on the protection of the titanium–aluminum–vanadium alloy

ABSTRACT The use of coatings based on alkoxysilanes is one of the most effective ways to control the release of cytotoxic ions by metal implants. To improve the success rate of titanium–aluminum–vanadium implants, in this study, we evaluated the physicochemical, morphological, mechanical, and electrochemical behavior of hybrid coatings based on alkoxysilanes applied on the alloy. The coatings were prepared with the precursors 3‐(trimethoxysilyl propyl)methacrylate and tetraethoxysilane alkoxides by the sol–gel method. The curing of the coatings was evaluated at different temperatures (90, 180, and 300 °C) for 1 h. We carried out the pretreatment of the alloy by polishing and attacking it with sodium hydroxide. The results indicate that the temperature of 90 °C was effective for solvent evaporation and complete crosslinking of the film, and the alkaline pretreatment allowed the formation of a film with better anticorrosive performance; this indicated that the presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface improved the coating adhesion. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45470.