Investigation of zinc‑copper alloys as potential materials for craniomaxillofacial osteosynthesis implants

Ping Li; Wentai Zhang; Jingtao Dai; Alexander Basileos Xepapadeas; Ernst Schweizer; Dorothea Alexander; Lutz Scheideler; Chao Zhou; Haijun Zhang; Guojiang Wan; Jürgen Geis-Gerstorfer

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2019.109826

Investigation of zinc‑copper alloys as potential materials for craniomaxillofacial osteosynthesis implants

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2019 Oct:103:109826. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.109826. Epub 2019 May 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Section Medical Materials Science and Technology, University Hospital Tübingen, Osianderstr. 2-8, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
² Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 61003, China.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Osianderstr. 2-8, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
⁴ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁵ Department of Interventional and Vascular Surgery, The Tenth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 61003, China. Electronic address: guojiang.wan@home.swjtu.edu.cn.
⁷ Section Medical Materials Science and Technology, University Hospital Tübingen, Osianderstr. 2-8, Tübingen 72076, Germany. Electronic address: juergen.geis-gerstorfer@med.uni-tuebingen.de.

PMID: 31349503
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.109826

Abstract

In this study, zinc‑copper (ZnCu) alloys were investigated regarding their feasibility as absorbable metals for osteosynthesis implants, especially in the craniomaxillofacial area. Mechanical properties and in vitro corrosion behavior of as-rolled Zn-xCu (x = 1, 2 and 4 wt%) alloys were systematically evaluated and screened. The as-rolled Zn4Cu alloy had mechanical properties that were superior to the most absorbable craniomaxillofacial osteosynthesis materials recently reported. The addition of Cu to Zn showed to have no apparent effect on the corrosion rates of the samples. The rolling process on Zn and Zn1Cu resulted in more uniform corrosion than on as-cast counterparts after 28 days immersion. Furthermore, the Zn4Cu alloys exhibited no apparent cytotoxic effect towards L929, TAg or Saos-2 cells. Proliferation rates of TAg and Saos-2 cells were shown to be activated by specific Zn ion concentrations in the as-rolled Zn4Cu alloy extracts. Analysis of in vitro antibacterial properties revealed that the as-rolled Zn4Cu alloy possessed the potential to inhibit biofilm formation of mixed oral bacteria. We conclude that the as-rolled Zn4Cu alloy might be a promising material for fabrication of craniomaxillofacial osteosynthesis implants.

Keywords: Absorbable; Biocompatibility; Biomaterials; Corrosion; Implant; Zinc.

MeSH terms

Absorbable Implants*
Alloys* / chemistry
Alloys* / pharmacology
Animals
Biocompatible Materials* / chemistry
Biocompatible Materials* / pharmacology
Cell Line, Tumor
Copper* / chemistry
Copper* / pharmacology
Corrosion
Fracture Fixation, Internal*
Humans
Materials Testing*
Mice
Zinc* / chemistry
Zinc* / pharmacology

Substances

Alloys
Biocompatible Materials
Copper
Zinc