Electrochemical removal of secondary roughness on selective laser melted titanium with an ethylene–glycol-based electrolyte (July 2023)

Published in the Materials Letters Journal (Volume 343, 15 July, 134367)

Partially sintered satellite particles in scaffolds produced via Selective Laser Melting (SLM) create discrepancies between the as-designed and the as-manufactured properties (esp. porosity). These discrepancies impede direct comparison of manufactured parts performance to computer simulations. We propose anodic electrolysis using an electrolyte based on non-aqueous ethlylene-glycol TiCl4 (EthaTi) to remove the secondary roughness on titanium SLM-ed porous scaffolds. Post-processed gyroid scaffolds regained 10% porosity with respect to their as-manufactured value (65.20 ± 0.23%), which was close to the as-designed value (75.12%). Compared to other well-established electrolytes, this method is cost-effective, user-friendly and practical, as it requires shorter processing times, is temperature-stable and of gentler chemistry.