Objective: This study was made to observe the topography and ionic diffusion of the elements titanium, silicon, et cetera in the Ti-porcelain interface area which was pretreated with different methods.
Methods: Ti-bond porcelain was fused on commercial pure titanium (CPT) with 8 different pretreatment methods; according to the temperature of the preoxidation, there were 300 degrees C, 400 degrees C, 500 degrees C and 600 degrees C groups, and based on the oxidizing-time in the air, there were 5 min, 15 min, 2 h and 24 h groups. The topography and ionic diffusion of elements in the Ti-porcelain interface area were observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) respectively.
Results: There were clefts and exfoliations in the 500 degrees C pre-oxidation group and 600 degrees C pre-oxidation group in SEM images. The distribution of titanium in the interlayer in EPMA images decreased from the titanium surface to porcelain, which was opposite to the distribution of silicon.
Conclusion: The clefts and exfoliations suggested the position of the fracture and brittleness of alpha-Ti[o] layer. The widths of ionic diffusion in the eight groups were different, but it was difficult to measure and compare them exactly.