Surface modification is given vital importance in the biomedical industry to cope with surface tissue growth problems. Conventionally, basic surface treatment methods are used which include physical and chemical deposition. The major drawbacks associated with these methods are excessive cost and poor adhesion of coating with implant material. To generate a bioactive surface on an implant, electric discharge machining (EDM) is a promising and emerging technology which simultaneously serves as machining and surface modification technique. Besides the surface topology, implant material plays a very important role in surgical applications. From various implant materials, titanium (Ti6Al4V ELI) alloy is the best choice for long-term hard body tissue replacement due to its superior engineering, excellent biocompatibility and antibacterial properties. In this research, EDM's surface characteristics are explored using Si powder mixed in dielectric on Ti6Al4V ELI. The effect of powder concentration (5 g/L, 10 g/L and 20 g/L) along with pulse current and pulse on time is investigated on micro and nanoscale surface topography. Optimized process parameters having a 5 g/L powder concentration result in 2.76 μm surface roughness and 13.80 μm recast layer thickness. Furthermore, a nano-structured (50-200 nm) biocompatible surface is fabricated on the surface for better cell attachment and growth. A highly favourable carbon enriched surface is confirmed through EDS which increases adhesion and proliferation of human osteoblasts.
Keywords: Ti alloy; bio-active surface; biomedical implants; electric discharge machining; nano-porosity; osseointegration; recast layer thickness; surface integrity; surface roughness.