Effect of Ce and Sb Elements Addition on Porous Ti–23 wt%Nb–Sn for Biomedical Applications

Ti–Nb, Ti–Nb–Sn, Ti–Nb–Sn– x Ce and Ti–Nb–Sn– x Sb shape memory alloys (SMAs) fabricated by powder metallurgy method and sintered via microwave sintering (MWS) technique, where x = 0, 0.2 and 0.4 wt% of Ce and Sb. The influence of Sn, Ce, and Sb on Ti–Nb alloy due to the porosity reduction, microstructure, mechanical properties, elastic modulus and corrosion behavior was investigated. The microstructure exhibits β , α as main phases and small intensities of α ″ phase, this microstructure shows needles-like and dendritic-like morphologies. Adding Ce and Sb to Ti–Nb–0.5Sn refine the grains size especially at the percentage of 0.4%. Ti–Nb based SMAs before and after adding Sn, Ce, and Sb exhibit superior properties, Ti–Nb–Sn–0.4Ce SMA exhibit the best mechanical properties and corrosion behavior due to high fracture strength of 900 MPa, good strain recovery of E2 = 75%, excellent corrosion rate of 111 × 10 –6 mm/year and high corrosion resistance of 5588 kΩ. These SMAs exhibited low elastic modulus in the range of 16 to 21 GPa which makes them suitable for biomedical implants.