Abstract
In the case of medical implants, foreign materials are preferential sites for bacterial adhesion and microbial contamination, which can lead to the development of prosthetic infections. Commercially biomedical TiNi shape memory alloys are the most commonly used materials for permanent implants in contact with bone and dental, and the prevention of infections of TiNi biomedical shape memory alloys in clinical cases is therefore a crucial challenge for orthopaedic and dental surgeons. In the present study, copper has been chosen as the alloying element for design and development novel ternary biomedical Ti‒Ni‒Cu shape memory alloys with antibacterial properties. The effects of copper alloying element on the microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion behaviors, cytocompatibility and antibacterial properties of biomedical Ti‒Ni‒Cu shape memory alloys have been systematically investigated. The results demonstrated that Ti‒Ni‒Cu alloys have good mechanical properties, and remain the excellent shape memory effects after adding copper alloying element. The corrosion behaviors of Ti‒Ni‒Cu alloys are better than the commercial biomedical Ti‒50.8Ni alloys. The Ti‒Ni‒Cu alloys exhibit excellent antibacterial properties while maintaining the good cytocompatibility, which would further guarantee the potential application of Ti‒Ni‒Cu alloys as future biomedical implants and devices without inducing bacterial infections.
Highlights
Among alloying elements with antibacterial properties, copper has shown superior in vitro antibacterial performance while maintaining an acceptable cytotoxicity profile
Previous study has shown that adding Cu up to 10% into TiNi wouldn’t damage the shape memory effect of TiNi alloys[12], which would guarantee the usage of them in various clinical cases
With the increasing amount of Cu alloying element, the phases of NiTi martensite (B19′phase) and Cu4Ti3 were appeared in Ti‒43.8Ni‒7Cu and Ti‒40.8Ni‒10Cu alloys
Summary
Among alloying elements with antibacterial properties, copper has shown superior in vitro antibacterial performance while maintaining an acceptable cytotoxicity profile. Copper ions can alter the function and structure of proteins in the bacterial cell wall, and lead to its consequent rupture[9]. They can bind and alter several bacterial enzymes, which are crucial for bacterial cellular respiration and metabolism. Copper has been chosen as the alloying element for design and development novel ternary biomedical Ti‒Ni‒Cu shape memory alloys with antibacterial properties. The effects of copper alloying element on the microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion behaviors, cytocompatibility and antibacterial properties of biomedical Ti‒Ni‒Cu shape memory alloys have been systematically investigated. The present work would provide the systematic pre-clinical information for further usage of this new kind of alloy system in clinical practices
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