Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, Xi'an 710016, China.
State key Laboratory of Military Stomatology, Department of Periodontology, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 13;7:40868. doi: 10.1038/srep40868.
Tantalum (Ta) metal is receiving increasing interest as biomaterial for load-bearing orthopedic applications and the synthetic properties of Ta can be tailored by altering its grain structures. This study evaluates the capability of sliding friction treatment (SFT) technique to modulate the comprehensive performances of pure Ta. Specifically, novel nanocrystalline (NC) surface with extremely small grains (average grain size of ≤20 nm) was fabricated on conventional coarse-grained (CG) Ta by SFT. It shows that NC surface possessed higher surface hydrophilicity and enhanced corrosion resistance than CG surface. Additionally, the NC surface adsorbed a notably higher percentage of protein as compared to CG surface. The in vitro results indicated that in the initial culture stages (up to 24 h), the NC surface exhibited considerably enhanced osteoblast adherence and spreading, consistent with demonstrated superior hydrophilicity on NC surface. Furthermore, within the 14 days culture period, NC Ta surface exhibited a remarkable enhancement in osteoblast cell proliferation, maturation and mineralization as compared to CG surface. Ultimately, the improved osteoblast functions together with the good mechanical and anti-corrosion properties render the SFT-processed Ta a promising alternative for the load-bearing bone implant applications.
钽（Ta）金属作为一种用于承重骨科应用的生物材料越来越受到关注，通过改变其晶粒结构可以调整 Ta 的合成性能。本研究评估了滑动摩擦处理（SFT）技术调节纯 Ta 综合性能的能力。具体来说，通过 SFT 在常规粗晶粒（CG）Ta 上制造出具有极小微粒（平均晶粒尺寸≤20nm）的新型纳米晶（NC）表面。结果表明，NC 表面比 CG 表面具有更高的表面亲水性和增强的耐腐蚀性。此外，NC 表面吸附的蛋白质百分比明显高于 CG 表面。体外结果表明，在初始培养阶段（长达 24 小时），NC 表面表现出明显增强的成骨细胞黏附和铺展，与 NC 表面表现出的优异亲水性一致。此外，在 14 天的培养期内，与 CG 表面相比，NC Ta 表面的成骨细胞增殖、成熟和矿化有显著提高。最终，改善的成骨细胞功能以及良好的机械和耐腐蚀性使经过 SFT 处理的 Ta 成为承重骨植入物应用的一种有前途的替代材料。
