Zwitterionic-phosphonate block polymer as anti-fouling coating for biomedical metals

Antifouling ability and blood compatibility are critically important in the development of medical metallic implants for clinical applications.Here,we report the zwitterionic-phosphonate block polymer as a new type of high-efficiency antifouling coating for metallic substrates.Six block polymers(pSBMA-b-pDEMMP)with different segment lengths(nSBMA:nDEMMP=10:25,40:25,100:25,75:5,75:40,75:100)were prepared and anchored on titanium alloy(TC4)substrates.1H nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)results clearly showed the precise preparation of the block polymers.XPS analysis and water contact angle measurement indicated the successful construction of the block polymer on TC4 substrates.The relationship between the antifouling performance of the polymer coating and the length of pDEMMP and pSBMA segments in the block polymer was established.Results showed that the polymer containing the pSBMA segment above 40 repeat units could significantly inhibit protein adsorption,platelet adhesion,bacterial adhesion and cell adhesion,while the pDEMMP segment above 5 repeat units is able to generate stable zwitterionic polymer coating on TC4 substrates.This ease of production and high-efficiency antifouling modification strategy elucidated here may find broad application for biomedical implants and devices in clinical applications.

High plastic Zr–Cu–Fe–Al–Nb bulk metallic glasses for biomedical applications

Four Zr–Cu–Fe–Al-based bulk metallic glasses（BMGs） with Zr contents greater than 65at% and minor additions of Nb were designed and prepared. The glass forming abilities, thermal stabilities, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance properties of the prepared BMGs were investigated. These BMGs exhibit moderate glass forming abilities along with superior fracture and yield strengths compared to previously reported Zr–Cu–Fe–Al BMGs. Specifically, the addition of Nb into this quaternary system remarkably increases the plastic strain to 27.5%, which is related to the high Poisson＇s ratio and low Young＇s and shear moduli. The Nb-bearing BMGs also exhibit a lower corrosion current density by about one order of magnitude and a wider passive region than 316 L steel in phosphate buffer solution（PBS, pH 7.4）. The combination of the optimized composition with high deformation ability, low Young＇s modulus, and excellent corrosion resistance properties indicates that this kind of BMG is promising for biomedical applications.

Research perspective and prospective of additive manufacturing of biodegradable magnesium-based materials

Biodegradable metals such as magnesium(Mg)and its alloys have attracted extensive attention in biomedical research due to their excellent mechanical properties and biodegradability.However,traditional casting,extrusion,and commercial processing have limitations in manufacturing components with a complex shape/structure,and these processes may produce defects such as cavities and gas pores which can degrade the properties and usefulness of the products.Compared to conventional techniques,additive manufacturing(AM)can be used to precisely control the geometry of workpieces made of different Mg-based materials with multiple geometric scales and produce desirable medical products for orthopedics,dentistry,and other fields.However,a detailed and thorough understanding of the raw materials,manufacturing processes,properties,and applications is required to foster the production of commercial Mg-based biomedical components by AM.This review summarizes recent advances and important issues pertaining to AM of Mg-based biomedical products and discusses future development and application trends.

Weak fatigue notch sensitivity in a biomedical titanium alloy exhibiting nonlinear elasticity

It is well known that metallic materials exhibit worse fatigue damage tolerance as they behave stronger in strength and softer in modulus. This raises concern on the long term safety of the recently developed biomechanical compatible titanium alloys with high strength and low modulus. Here we demonstrate via a model alloy, Ti-24 Nb-4 Zr-8 Sn in weight percent, that this group of multifunctional titanium alloys possessing nonlinear elastic deformation behavior is tolerant in fatigue notch damage. The results reveal that the alloy has a high strength-to-modulus（σ/E） ratio reaching2% but its fatigue notch sensitivity（q） is low, which decreases linearly from 0.45 to 0.25 as stress concentration factor increases from 2 to 4. This exceeds significantly the typical relationship between σ/E and q of other metallic materials exhibiting linear elasticity. Furthermore, fatigue damage is characterized by an extremely deflected mountain-shape fracture surface, resulting in much longer and more tortuous crack growth path as compared to these linear elastic materials. The above phenomena can be explained by the nonlinear elasticity and its induced stress relief at the notch root in an adaptive manner of higher stress stronger relief. This finding provides a new strategy to balance high strength and good damage tolerance property of metallic materials.