Study on a Novel Biodegradable and Antibacterial Fe-Based Alloy Prepared by Microwave Sintering

Bin Deng; Yingxue Guo; Ming-Chun Zhao; Qing-Fen Li; Bin Ma; Bohua Duan; Dengfeng Yin; Andrej Atrens

doi:10.3390/ma14143784

Study on a Novel Biodegradable and Antibacterial Fe-Based Alloy Prepared by Microwave Sintering

Materials (Basel). 2021 Jul 6;14(14):3784. doi: 10.3390/ma14143784.

Authors

Bin Deng¹, Yingxue Guo², Ming-Chun Zhao², Qing-Fen Li³, Bin Ma³, Bohua Duan², Dengfeng Yin², Andrej Atrens⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Automobile Parts Technology, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421002, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421002, China.
⁴ School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.

Abstract

This research produced a porous Fe-8 wt.% Cu alloy by microwave sintering in order to achieve (i) an increased biodegradation rate, and (ii) an antibacterial function. The Fe-8Cu alloy had higher density, hardness and degradation rate (about 2 times higher) but smaller and fewer surface pores, compared to the pure Fe. The Fe-8Cu alloy had a strong antibacterial function (the antibacterial rates against E. coli were up to 99.9%) and good biocompatibility. This work provides a novel approach of alloy design and processing to develop novel antibacterial Fe-based alloys.

Keywords: Fe-based alloy; antibacterial function; biodegradation; microwave sintering.

Abstract

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