Design and Biological Properties Screening of Medical Low-Modulus TiZr-Based Multi-principal Element Alloys

Abstract:

TiZrNbHf multi-principal element alloy films were fabricated via magnetron sputtering co-deposition. The phase composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the samples were characterized using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscope (EDS), and nanoindenter. High-throughput biocompatibility screening of individual composition spots was performed through the construction of discrete biological culture wells. With the aid of machine learning-assisted screening, this work proposed a novel paradigm for designing low-modulus alloys. The results show that the TiZrNbHf multi-principal alloy samples all exhibit a body-centered cubic structure, with Young's modulus and hardness ranging from 15–93 GPa and 1.7–4.8 GPa, respectively. Cytotoxicity tests reveal that optical density values concentrate in the range of 0.75–0.90, demonstrating good biocompatibility. Using a random forest regression model with Ti, Zr, Nb, and Hf as input variables, the influence of each element on Young's modulus was analyzed, revealing that Nb has the most significant effect. By combining Latin hypercube sampling, a predictive dataset was constructed, leading to the design and calculation of three types of low-modulus alloy. This approach provides a theoretical foundation and data support for low-modulus alloy design.