Trace carbon in biomedical beta-titanium alloys: recent progress

Owing to their relatively low Young's modulus, high strength, good resistance to corrosion, and excellent biocompatibility, β-titanium (Ti) alloys have shown great potential for biomedical applications. In β-Ti alloys, carbon can exist in the form of titanium carbide (TiC< inf>x< /inf>) as well as interstitial atoms. The Ti-C binary phase diagram predicts a carbon solubility value of 0.08 wt.% in β-Ti, which has been used as the carbon limit for a variety of β-Ti alloys. However, noticeable grain boundary TiC< inf>x< /inf> particles have been observed in β-Ti alloys containing impurity levels of carbon well below the predicted 0.08 wt.%. This review focuses its attention on trace carbon (≤0.08 wt.%) in biomedical β-Ti alloys containing niobium (Nb) and molybdenum (Mo), and it discusses the nature and precipitation mechanism of the TiC< inf>x< /inf> particles in these alloys.