Abstract

Apart from ceramics, polymers, and composites, metallic materials rank distinguished in the field of biomaterials. Recently, titanium (Ti) based materials are attracting much interest as implantable materials because of their superior corrosion resistance, better mechanical properties such as remarkably high specific strength, low elastic modulus, and excellent biocompatibility compared to other competing biomaterials like stainless steel, Co-Cr alloys and nitinol alloys. Implantable Ti based materials must have high corrosion resistance to withstand the degradation which results from the reactions with the hostile body environment and does not result in adverse biological troubles in the body. At the same time, Ti materials must be stable and retain their properties for a long time reliably. The present article discusses the importance of creation of stable, compact and continuous oxide layers on the surface of Ti materials has been strongly effective to combat corrosion in aggressive body fluid. In this review, the traditional and advanced surface modification techniques that be used to increase the bioactivity of the Ti surfaces and in turn to improve the corrosion behaviour have also been discussed at length.