Abstract
The article presents an investigation on the effectiveness of nanostructured titanium-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% Ag composite foams as a novel class of antibacterial materials for medical applications. The Ti-based composite foams were prepared by the combination of mechanical alloying and a “space-holder” sintering process. In the first step, the Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% Ag powder synthesized by mechanical alloying and annealing mixed with 1.0 mm diameter of saccharose crystals was finally compacted in the form of pellets. In the next step, the saccharose crystals were dissolved in water, leaving open spaces surrounded by metallic-bioceramic scaffold. The sintering of the scaffold leads to foam formation. It was found that 1:1 Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% Ag/sugar ratio leads to porosities of about 70% with pore diameter of about 0.3–1.1 mm. The microstructure, corrosion resistance in Ringer’s solution of the produced foams were investigated. The value of the compression strength for the Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% Ag foam with 70% porosity was 1.5 MPa and the Young’s modulus was 34 MPa. Silver modified Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass composites possess excellent antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. Porous Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% foam could be a possible candidate for medical implants applications.
Highlights
Metal foam is a class of interesting material that can exhibit a unique combination of physical, chemical and mechanical properties [1,2]
A new kind of biomedical Ti-10 wt% 45S5 Bioglass-1 wt% Ag foam was prepared by mechanical alloying and powder metallurgy process
Saccharose crystals with the particle size 1 mm were used as the space-holder material
Summary
Metal foam is a class of interesting material that can exhibit a unique combination of physical, chemical and mechanical properties [1,2]. Because it is lightweight and low Young modulus, titanium-based foam is drawing much attention in medical applications from the viewpoint of bone ingrowth promotion and induction of prosthesis stabilization. Current research focuses on improving the mechanical performance and biocompatibility of metal-based systems through changes in alloy composition, microstructure and surface treatments [4,14,15,16]. In the case of titanium, a lot of attention is paid to enhance the strength characteristics of commercial purity grades in order to avoid potential biotoxicity of alloying elements, especially in dental implants [17]
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