The aerospace industry is constantly looking for innovative materials that exhibit good mechanical and corrosion properties. The 2198-T851 (Al-Cu-Li) alloy was developed to replace the conventional Al-Cu-Mg in aircraft structures. Despite the usefulness of the 2198-T851 alloy, its performance may be affected when subjected to an aggressive medium containing chloride ions. The deposition of Nb2O5 coatings by using the reactive sputtering technique on the 2198-T851 alloy surface appears as a powerful tool to improve the corrosion resistance of this material. Recently, groundbreaking research findings have demonstrated the positive effect of Nb2O5 coatings on corrosion protection of alloy 2198-T851. However, the corrosion products originated from the 2198-T851 aluminium alloy are poorly understood. The use of Raman spectroscopy and XPS techniques may help to shed some light on the corrosion products of 2198-T851 alloy. Results demonstrated the corrosion products are mainly composed by CuCl2 x H2O, CuCl, Cu2Cl(OH)3, Al(OH)3, and AlO(OH).

Biomedical engineering has been constantly looking for the development of new materials that have bioactive surfaces and that are responsible for new bone formation, induce osteoblast differentiation and present antibacterial properties. Here, we present innovative and applied research to evaluate the influence of niobium pentoxide thin films (Nb2O5) deposited on the surface of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy via the reactive sputtering technique on antibacterial activity, on the cellular proliferation of MC3T3 cells and on biomineralization capacity. Results demonstrated the reactive sputtering technique improved the cell viability, the osteogenic performance of cells involved in the osseointegration process, the ability to delay bacterial proliferation within the first six hours of contact with S. aureus as well as the capacity to promote rapid amorphous apatite formation in vitro. These findings confirm the great potential of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy functionalized with Nb2O5 for future applications in implantable devices. properties Here NbO Nb O (Nb2O5 Ti6Al4V TiAlV Ti 6Al 4V Al V activity MCT MC T MC3T viability process S vitro Nb2O devices (Nb2O