Titanium alloys for biomedical applications and fabrication methods thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9828655-B2
Application number	US-201514845430-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2015
Priority date	Sep 4, 2015
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

Alloys of titanium with 20-22 at. % niobium and 12-13 at. % zirconium. The alloys are prepared by mechanical alloying of elemental powders and densification by spark plasma sintering. The alloys have a nano-scaled, equiaxed granular structure, a microhardness of at least 650 HV and a modulus of 90-140 GPa. The inventive alloy is corrosion resistant, biocompatible, and is of a higher wear resistance and durability compared to the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The bioactive surface of the inventive nanostructured alloy promotes a higher protein adsorption that stimulates new bone formation than other titanium-based alloys. These alloys are suitable for various biomedical and dental applications.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An alloy comprising:
20-22 at. % niobium;
12-13 at. % zirconium; and
≦68 at. % titanium;
wherein the alloy comprises an equiaxed granular structure with an average grain size of 70-140 nm;
wherein the equiaxed granular structure comprises a body centered cubic beta-titanium phase forming a matrix surrounding a hexagonal close packed alpha-titanium phase region; and
wherein the alloy is prepared by a process comprising:
providing an elemental powder mixture comprising 20-22 at. % niobium elemental powder, 12-13 at. % zirconium powder and ≦68 at. % titanium powder;
grinding the elemental powder mixture with a grinder comprising a grinding media to form a homogeneous alloy powder; and
spark plasma sintering the homogeneous alloy powder to produce the alloy.

2. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein the alloy comprises:
20 at. % niobium;
13 at. % zirconium; and
≦67 at. % titanium.

3. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein the alloy is a ternary alloy and is substantially free of an additional fourth element.

4. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein the elemental powder mixture is ground at a weight ratio of the grinding media to the elemental powder mixture of 8:1 to 10:1.

5. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein during the grinding, the grinder is agitated at 240-360 rpm.

6. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein the grinding is carried out for 10-60 h.

7. The alloy of claim 1 , wherein the spark plasma sintering is carried out at 50-100 MPa, 1000° C. to 1200° C. for 5-15 min.

8. The alloy of claim 1 , being substantially free of an omega-titanium phase.

9. The alloy of claim 1 , having a microhardness of 650-675 HV.

10. The alloy of claim 1 , having a modulus of 90-140 GPa.

11. A device comprising the alloy of claim 1 .

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a biomedical implants, an orthopedic implant, a dental implant, a surgical instrument and parts thereof.

Assignees

• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals
• Kind Fahd Univ Of Petroleum And Minerals

Inventors

• Hussein Mohamed Abdrabou
• Al-Aqeeli Nasser Mohammed

Classifications

• C22C1/0458

  Alloys based on titanium, zirconium or hafnium · CPC title

• A61L27/00

  Materials for {grafts or} prostheses or for coating {grafts or} prostheses (dental prostheses A61C13/00; shape or structure of prostheses A61F2/00; use of preparations for artificial teeth A61K6/80; artificial kidneys A61M1/14) · CPC title

• A61F2/28

  Bones · CPC title

• C22C14/00 Primary

  Alloys based on titanium · CPC title

• B22F3/105

  by using electric current {other than for infrared radiant energy}, laser radiation or plasma (B22F3/11 takes precedence){; by ultrasonic bonding (B22F3/115 takes precedence)} · CPC title