Starikov, V. V.Starikova, S. L.Mamalis, A. G.Lavrynenko, S. N.Ramsden, Jeremy J.2008-05-072008-05-072007V. V. Starikov, S. L. Starikova, A. G. Mamalis, S. N. Lavrynenko, J. J. Ramsden; The application of niobium and tantalum oxides for implant surface passivation. Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry, Vol 7, No 4, Dec 2007 pp141-1451512-0856http://hdl.handle.net/1826/2525Despite the advantages of ceramics, with their high corrosion stability in vivo, most medical implant constructions are still made from metals [1]. To increase the corrosion stability of metals, different coatings are applied to the implant surfaces, typically such coatings are the oxides of the metals in the implants [2]. For an oxide film to have protective properties it must satisfy the following requirements: • to be unbroken and pore-free; • to have good adhesion with the metal; • to have a thermal expansion constant near to the value for the metal; • to be chemically inert in different environments; • to be hard and have minimal wear under load. The oxides of metals such as Al, Ti, Zr, Nb and Ta satisfy all these properties to some degree [3–5]. Indeed, some of these metal oxides are used in medicine independently without a metal substrate, such as implant constructions from sapphire (a single-crystal modification of Al2O3) [6, 7]. Titanium is the most widely used material for medical implant manufacture [8]. Its chemical passivity is provided by the oxide film (TiO2), covering the entire free surface; a result of titanium contact with air. But titanium is unable to satisfy all the requirements necessary for an implant material because of its insufficient corrosion stability [9–11]. The application of combined implants consisting of a metal base and a ceramic coating also does not give a complete solution to the problem, because of the low adhesion strength and fragility of ceramic coatings [12, 13].enanodic oxidescoatingimplantsniobiumtantalumArticle