Preparation and Characterization of Porous Titanium Alloy Scaffold Coated with Tantalum

Abstract:

Tantalum is an ideal medical metal material, which can integrate with human soft/hard tissue. Chemical vapor deposition method was used to deposit tantalum film on the surface of Ti6Al4V scaffolds with controlled porous structure. The Ti6Al4V scaffolds could have ideal three-dimensional pore structure and mechanical compatibility, but also have excellent biological properties of tantalum. The investigation results show that the surface color changes of porous scaffolds before and after coating are obvious. After coating, the scaffolds show Ta metal color. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests demonstrate that the deposition on the surface of porous titanium alloy scaffolds is the tantalum metal. Compared to the Zimmer trabecular metal, the elastic modulus and compressive strength of the porous titanium alloy scaffold coated with tantalum are more similar to that of human cortical bone, which could be an ideal substitute for bone repair.

Key words:electron beam melting; scaffold; tantalum coating; titanium alloy