Using Cu as a Spacer to Fabricate and Control the Porosity of Titanium Zirconium Based Bulk Metallic Glass Foams for Orthopedic Implant Applications

Pei-Chun Wong; Sin-Mao Song; Pei-Hua Tsai; Muhammad Jauharul Maqnun; Wei-Ru Wang; Jia-Lin Wu; Shian-Ching Jason Jang

doi:10.3390/ma15051887

Using Cu as a Spacer to Fabricate and Control the Porosity of Titanium Zirconium Based Bulk Metallic Glass Foams for Orthopedic Implant Applications

Materials (Basel). 2022 Mar 3;15(5):1887. doi: 10.3390/ma15051887.

Authors

Pei-Chun Wong^{1

2

3}, Sin-Mao Song⁴, Pei-Hua Tsai⁴, Muhammad Jauharul Maqnun⁴, Wei-Ru Wang⁵, Jia-Lin Wu^{1

2

3

6}, Shian-Ching Jason Jang^{4

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
² Department of Orthopedics, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
³ Orthopedics Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
⁴ Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan 320317, Taiwan.
⁵ School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
⁶ Centers for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan 320317, Taiwan.

Abstract

In this study, a porous titanium zirconium (TiZr)-based bulk metallic foam was successfully fabricated using the Cu spacer by employing the hot press method. TiZr-based bulk metallic foams with porosities ranging from 0% to 50% were fabricated and analyzed. The results indicate that thermal conductivity increased with the addition of Cu spacer; the increased thermal conductivity reduced the holding time in the hot press method. Moreover, the compressive strength decreased from 1261 to 76 MPa when the porosity of the TiZr-based bulk metallic foam increased to 50%, and the compressive strength was predictable. In addition, the foam demonstrated favorable biocompatibility in cell viability, cell migration capacity, and calcium deposition tests. Moreover, the pore size of the porous TiZr-based bulk metallic foam was around 120 µm. In conclusion, TiZr-based bulk metallic foam has favorable biocompatibility, mechanical property controllability, and porous structure for bone ingrowth and subsequent enhanced osteointegration. This porous TiZr-based bulk metallic foam has great potential as an orthopedic implant to enhance bone healing and decrease healing time.

Keywords: Cu spacer; TiZr-based bulk metallic glass; biocompatibility; mechanical properties controllability; porous.