Self-propagating High temperature Synthesis (SHS) was proposed as a suitable route for the production of porous NiTi alloys that show promising potential in the applications of bone implantation. In this work we report  the characterization of NiTi alloys produced adopting an SHS experimental technique that permits to control the sample heating transient, the reaction initiation (driven by radiant energy) and to decouple these processes from the reacting front propagation regime. Moreover , the operating conditions, the porosity of the sample and the particle sizes of the Ni and Ti powders can be selected in order to produce pellets having different characteristics. For this reason, they were characterized to verify the influence of these parameters on the SHS process.

The results show that NiTi products with great porosity (up to 55%) can be obtained however, the presence of secondary undesired phases was detected too. X-ray diffraction, DSC and SEM analyses of specimens produced at different operating conditions were reported.