title: Porous niobium coatings fabricated with selective laser melting on titanium substrates: Preparation, characterization, and cell behavior.
abstract: Nb, an expensive and refractory element with good wear resistance and biocompatibility, is gaining more attention as a new metallic biomaterial. However, the high price of the raw material, as well as the high manufacturing costs because of Nb's strong oxygen affinity and high melting point have limited the widespread use of Nb and its compounds. To overcome these disadvantages, porous Nb coatings of various thicknesses were fabricated on Ti substrate via selective laser melting (SLM), which is a 3D printing technique that uses computer-controlled high-power laser to melt the metal. The morphology and microstructure of the porous Nb coatings, which had pores ranging from 15 to 50 μm in size, were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The average hardness of the coating, which was measured with the linear intercept method, was 392±37 HV. In vitro tests of the porous Nb coating which was monitored with SEM, immunofluorescence, and CCK-8 counts of cells, exhibited excellent cell morphology, attachment, and growth. The simulated body fluid test also proved the bioactivity of the Nb coating. Therefore, these new porous Nb coatings could potentially be used for enhanced early biological fixation to bone tissue. In addition, this study has shown that SLM technique could be used to fabricate coatings with individually tailored shapes and/or porosities from group IVB and VB biomedical metals and their alloys on stainless steel, Co-Cr, and other traditional biomedical materials without wasting raw materials.
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology on Power Beam Processes Laboratory, Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute (BAMTRI), Beijing 100024, China; State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
authors.forename: Yehui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Changjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Yusheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. Electronic address: wqs_xn@163.com.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; Department of Stomatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China. Electronic address: zhangzhentitanium@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects; D007834:Lasers; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D009556:Niobium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D009556:Niobium; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Biocompatibility; Coatings; Niobium; Selective laser melting; Titanium