Due to the general increase in life expectancy, as well as the growing number of implantations, the need for modern solutions in the field of biomedical materials is higher than ever before. A variety of different metallic implant materials (e.g. biocompatible steels, Ti alloys) are already in clinical use, but often show weaknesses in terms of biocompatibility, tissue compatibility and biomechanical durability. The research contribution presented here relates to a novel multicomponent alloy based on the elements tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb) and titanium (Ti), which exhibits excellent biocompatibility. The innovation of the developed material is the antibacterial behavior of the alloy in combination with outstanding biomechanical properties. In addition to the base composition, the alloying element Zirconium (Zr) was introduced in equimolar fractions and the resulting effect on the microstructure development as well as the biocompatibility was studied.
The alloys examined were produced by arc melting under Ar atmosphere, metallographically prepared and investigated respectively. To get a better understanding of the microstructure evolution, heat-treatment experiments were performed. The obtained microstructures were analysed by means of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The mechanical properties of the alloys produced were investigated in terms of hardness testing, compression testing and bending tests. Moreover, the biocompatibility of the novel materials was evaluated by means of cell attachment (osteoblasts), as well as monocyte inflammatory response analysis and compared to samples of elemental Ta, Nb, alloy Co-28Cr-6Mo and alloy Ti-6Al-4V. The antibacterial capacity was verified by cultivation experiments of different bacterial strains (E.Coli, Staphylococcus) on the materials surfaces. Results indicate outstanding biocompatibility (regarding cell attachment, expressions of fibrosis markers, inflammatory capacity) as well as antibacterial behaviour which differs significantly from that of state-of-the-art biomaterials, making Ta-Nb-Ti based alloys very promising candidates for future biomedical applications.