Open Porous α + β Titanium Alloy by Liquid Metal Dealloying for Biomedical Applications

Stefan Alexander Berger,Ilya Vladimirovich Okulov

doi:10.3390/met10111450

Abstract

Open porous dendrite-reinforced TiMo alloy was synthesized by liquid metal dealloying of the precursor Ti47.5Mo2.5Cu50 (at.%) alloy in liquid magnesium (Mg). The porous TiMo alloy consists of α-titanium and β-titanium phases and possesses a complex microstructure. The microstructure consists of micrometer scale β-titanium dendrites surrounded by submicrometer scale α-titanium ligaments. Due to the dendrite-reinforced microstructure, the porous TiMo alloy possesses relatively high yield strength value of up to 180 MPa combined with high deformability probed under compression loading. At the same time, the elastic modulus of the porous TiMo alloy (below 10 GPa) is in the range of that found for human bone. This mechanical behavior along with the open porous structure is attractive for biomedical applications and suggests opportunities for using the porous TiMo alloy in implant applications.

Highlights

Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used as structural biomedical materials due to an excellent combination of mechanical and biological compatibilities [1,2]
A series of low modulus porous titanium alloys possessing moderate strength [14,16,17] have been developed by liquid metal dealloying [18,19,20,21]
We developed open porous TiMo alloys reinforced by dendrites by liquid metal dealloying

Summary

Introduction

Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used as structural biomedical materials due to an excellent combination of mechanical and biological compatibilities [1,2]. This fact has stimulated an increasing interest in the development of novel titanium-based materials as well as improving the existing materials over the recent years [3,4,5,6,7,8]. One of the motivating factors for biomedical titanium alloy research was the so-called, “stress-shielding” effect, causing bone degeneration and implant loosening [1] This effect is caused by the significant mismatch of stiffness between metallic material and bone. A series of low modulus porous titanium alloys possessing moderate strength [14,16,17] have been developed by liquid metal dealloying [18,19,20,21]

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Results

Conclusion