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. 2020 Mar 15:263:127282.
doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2019.127282. Epub 2019 Dec 28.

Novel Zinc / Tungsten Carbide Nanocomposite as Bioabsorbable Implant

Zeyi Guan  1 , Chase S Linsley  2 , Injoo Hwang  1 , Gongcheng Yao  3 , Benjamin M Wu  2   3   4   5 , Xiaochun Li  1   3
Affiliations

Novel Zinc / Tungsten Carbide Nanocomposite as Bioabsorbable Implant

Zeyi Guan et al. Mater Lett. .

Abstract

There is a lack of bioabsorbable materials with adequate mechanical strength suitable for implant applications that provide temporary support while tissue integrity is restored, especially for pediatric applications. Bioabsorbable metals have emerged as an attractive choice due to their combination of strength, ductility, and biocompatibility in vivo. Zinc has shown great promise as a bioabsorbable metal, but the weak mechanical properties of pure zinc limit its application as an implant material. This study investigates zinc-tungsten carbide (Zn-WC) nanocomposite as a novel material for bioabsorbable metallic implants. Ultrasound-assisted powder compaction was used to fabricate Zn-WC nanocomposites. This study includes the material characterization of microstructure, microhardness, and degradability. Results showed that tungsten carbide nanoparticles enhanced the mechanical properties of Zn, and maintained the favorable corrosion rate of pure Zn. These results encourage further investigation of Zn-WC nanocomposites for biomedical applications with the ultimate goal of creating safe and efficacious bioabsorbable metallic implants for many clinical applications.

Keywords: Bioabsorbable implant; Nanocomposites; Zinc.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest Statement All authors in the author list declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic of Zn-WC nanocomposite fabrication via ultrasound-assisted power compaction
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) SEM images of WC nanoparticles homogeously dispersed in Zn matrix. (b) Magnified SEM image of dispersed WC nanoparticles of 150nm with no severe sintering. (c) TEM image of Zn-WC nanocomposite. (d) Diffraction patern of WC on the darker phase after fast Fourier tranformation.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Biodegradability of pure zinc and Zn-WC nanocomposite. (a) Vickers microhardness of Zn- WC nanocomposites vs. WC vol.% (b) Comparing the Vickers hardness of pure Zn and Zn-WC (10 vol. %) nanocomposites before and after 14 days of immersion in SBF. (c) Static immersion of Zn-WC micro-wires in SBF (n=3). No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was measured in Zn release between samples with increasing WC nanoparticle content based on one-way ANOVA. SEM images of Zn- WC nanocomposite micro-wire before (d) and after (e) immersion in SBF for 14 days.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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