Electrochemical response of ZrO₂ incorporated titanium oxide film

Abstract

The electrochemical characteristics of ZrO₂ incorporated titanium oxide film on pure titanium were investigated via high energy plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coating. To incorporate ZrO₂ particles into the titanium oxide film, ZrO₂ particles dispersed in the K₃PO₄ electrolyte were used in the study, which was compared to the result without ZrO₂ particles. After the PEO process at a current density of 200 mA cm⁻², most of the ZrO₂ particles migrated toward the anodic titanium surface due to electrophoresis, giving rise to much denser titanium oxide film compared to the counterpart without ZrO₂ particles. The electrochemical analyses based on the impedance measurements showed that the corrosion resistance of the ZrO₂ incorporated titanium oxide film would be improved significantly. The electrochemical response was analysed quantitatively in the context of the equivalent circuit model, which comprised the two individual oxide films acting as both a capacitor and a resistor.

Keywords:

• Titanium
• Plasma electrolytic oxidation
• ZrO₂
• Corrosion
• Impedance test

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (grant no. 2012-0000130).