A novel porous Fe/Fe-W alloy scaffold with a double-layer structured skeleton: Preparation, in vitro degradability and biocompatibility.

A novel porous Fe/Fe-W alloy scaffold with a double-layer structured skeleton was prepared for the first time by electrodeposition. The microstructure of the scaffold was analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and mercury porosimetry. Mechanical property, in vitro degradability and biocompatibility were tested by tensile test, immersion and a cytotoxicity test. The results showed that the scaffolds exhibited a cellular structure that is similar to that of cancellous bone and had a considerably large specific surface area. The skeleton of the scaffolds showed a double-layer structure that was composed of a hollow Fe skeleton wrapped in a thin layer of Fe-W alloy. The tensile strength and the apparent density are close to that of cancellous bone. It was also found that the different surface microstructures showed different effects on in vitro degradability and biocompatibility. In the immersion test, the corrosion rate decreased gradually as the immersion time increased. In the cytotoxicity test, the extraction medium of the pure Fe scaffold showed the lowest cell viability, followed by that of 1.5FeW as a close second. The extraction media of FeW, Fe1.5W and Fe2W were similar, and their cell viability was far above that of the Fe and 1.5FeW scaffolds. The structural style of the scaffolds presented in this paper is potentially useful and applicable to developing degradable scaffolds with a tailored corrosion rate.