Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a powerful technique to assemble metals, polymer, ceramics, and composite materials into 2D, 3D, and intricately shaped implants. Polymers, proteins, and peptides can be deposited via EPD at room temperature without affecting their chemical structures. Furthermore, EPD is being used to deposit multifunctional coatings (i.e., bioactive, antibacterial, and biocompatible coatings). Recently, EPD was used to architect multi-structured coatings to improve mechanical and biological properties along with the controlled release of drugs/metallic ions. The key characteristics of EPD coatings in terms of inorganic bioactivity and their angiogenic potential coupled with antibacterial properties are the key elements enabling advanced applications of EPD in orthopedic applications. In the emerging field of EPD coatings for hard tissue and soft tissue engineering, an overview of such applications will be presented. The progress in the development of EPD-based polymeric or composite coatings, including their application in orthopedic and targeted drug delivery approaches, will be discussed, with a focus on the effect of different biologically active ions/drugs released from EPD deposits. The literature under discussion involves EPD coatings consisting of chitosan (Chi), zein, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and their composites. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo investigations of EPD coatings will be discussed in relation to the current main challenge of orthopedic implants, namely that the biomaterial must provide good bone-binding ability and mechanical compatibility.
Aluminum (Al) and Titanium (Ti) based lightweight alloys have been a topic of discussion and research for a few decades now. Resulting alloys with hard intermetallic phases in Al-Ti binary system have good microstructural and mechanical properties including low densities, high specific strength, better resistance against oxidation and corrosion which are highly desirable in aerospace industry. Such an alloy system was studied in our research. Powder metallurgy (PM) was used as processing route because of its economical and easy operation. Samples were prepared using metallic powders of Aluminum (Al) and Titanium (Ti) with varying compositions of 95 at.% Al-Ti, 90 at.% Al-Ti and 88 at.% Al-10 at.% Ti-2 at.% SiC. After compaction, pressureless sintering was carried out at 620°C for several hours in Argon atmosphere followed by annealing resulting in a reasonably dense Al-Ti alloy. Microstructure and phase composition of alloy was analyzed by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Hardness was evaluated by Vickers micro indentation test. An increase in hardness was observed. Sample containing reinforcement particles (SiC) demonstrated highest value of hardness.
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