Chang Yin-Yu, Huang Heng-Li, Chen Ya-Chi, Hsu Jui-Ting, Shieh Tzong-Ming, Tsai Ming-Tzu
Department of Mechanical and Computer-Aided Engineering, National Formosa University, Yunlin, Taiwan.
School of Dentistry, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
PLoS One. 2014 Apr 23;9(4):e95590. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095590. eCollection 2014.
Tantalum (Ta) is a promising metal for biomedical implants or implant coating for orthopedic and dental applications because of its excellent corrosion resistance, fracture toughness, and biocompatibility. This study synthesizes biocompatible tantalum carbide (TaC) and TaC/amorphous carbon (a-C) coatings with different carbon contents by using a twin-gun magnetron sputtering system to improve their biological properties and explore potential surgical implant or device applications. The carbon content in the deposited coatings was regulated by controlling the magnetron power ratio of the pure graphite and Ta cathodes. The deposited TaC and TaC/a-C coatings exhibited better cell viability of human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63 than the uncoated Ti and Ta-coated samples. Inverted optical and confocal imaging was used to demonstrate the cell adhesion, distribution, and proliferation of each sample at different time points during the whole culture period. The results show that the TaC/a-C coating, which contained two metastable phases (TaC and a-C), was more biocompatible with MG-63 cells compared to the pure Ta coating. This suggests that the TaC/a-C coatings exhibit a better biocompatible performance for MG-63 cells, and they may improve implant osseointegration in clinics.
钽（Ta）因其出色的耐腐蚀性、断裂韧性和生物相容性，是用于骨科和牙科应用的生物医学植入物或植入物涂层的一种很有前景的金属。本研究通过使用双枪磁控溅射系统合成了具有不同碳含量的生物相容性碳化钽（TaC）和TaC/非晶碳（a-C）涂层，以改善其生物学性能并探索潜在的外科植入物或器械应用。通过控制纯石墨和Ta阴极的磁控功率比来调节沉积涂层中的碳含量。与未涂层的Ti和Ta涂层样品相比，沉积的TaC和TaC/a-C涂层对人骨肉瘤细胞系MG-63表现出更好的细胞活力。在整个培养期间，使用倒置光学和共聚焦成像来展示每个样品在不同时间点的细胞粘附、分布和增殖情况。结果表明，与纯Ta涂层相比，含有两个亚稳相（TaC和a-C）的TaC/a-C涂层与MG-63细胞的生物相容性更好。这表明TaC/a-C涂层对MG-63细胞表现出更好的生物相容性性能，并且它们可能会改善临床上植入物的骨整合。
