The Intrinsically High Pitting Corrosion Resistance of Mechanically Polished Nitinol In Simulated Physiological Solutions

Nitinol wires have been widely used in many biomedical applications such as cardiovascular stent due to their superelasticity and shape memory effect. However, their corrosion properties and the related biocompatibility are not well understood, and the reported results are controversial. In this study, we evaluate the pitting corrosion property of nitinol, titanium, nickel, and 316L stainless steel (316LSS) wires with different surface roughnesses in a saline solution at 37 °C. The cyclic potentiodynamic polarization results show that mechanically polished nitinol and Ti wires are highly resistant to pitting corrosion, while Ni and 316LSS wires are susceptible to pitting corrosion. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is used to study the interface of oxide film/solution and all mechanically polished nitinol wires are covered by 2-3 nm thick films formed under open circuit potential. Furthermore, the electronic structures and semiconducting properties of passive films on nitinol, Ti and Ni wires are studied by Mott-Schottky analysis. Passive films formed on nitinol and Ti exhibit n-type semiconducting characteristics, while films on Ni show p-type semiconducting characteristics. Scanning Kelvin Microscopy is used to measure the surface potential difference between common inclusions from the nitinol matrix and the results indicate that the inclusions are more electrochemically noble than the nitinol matrix. Band energy theory is used to model the electrochemical interface between the passive films of nitinol and the solution under different applied potential conditions. A mechanism for the strong pitting corrosion resistance of nitinol in saline solution is proposed.