This study investigates the fabrication and characterization of binary Ti-Si and Ti-Al thin-film metallic glasses (TFMGs) deposited via electron beam evaporation on cp Ti and Si substrates. X-ray diffraction confirmed the amorphous structure of the Ti89Si11 and Ti55Al45 thin films. AFM revealed differences in surface roughness, with Ti89Si11 exhibiting a smoother surface (Ra = 0.9 nm) than Ti55Al45 (Ra = 1.6 nm), likely due to differences in atomic size mismatch, heat of mixing, and potential oxidation effects. Electrochemical tests in Hank’s solution demonstrated the superior corrosion resistance of Ti89Si11, which had the lowest icorr (0.123 µA/cm2) and widest passive region compared to Ti55Al45 and reference materials (cp Ti and SS316L). Mechanical properties revealed that both TFMGs exhibit higher indentation hardness and comparable reduced elastic modulus to cp Ti, with Ti55Al45 showing the highest hardness (5.93 ± 0.37 GPa). These findings highlight the potential of Ti-Si and Ti-Al TFMGs as high-performance materials for biomedical coatings.
Knap et al. (Thu,) studied this question.