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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Biodegradation, Antibacterial Performance, and

Cytocompatibility of a Novel ZK30-Cu-Mn Biomedical

Alloy Produced by Selective Laser Melting

Bin Xie , Ming-Chun Zhao , Rong Xu , Ying-Chao Zhao , Dengfeng Yin *,
1
1
1
1
1
Chengde Gao , Andrej Atrens 2
1
1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, P.R. China
2 School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
Abstract: In the present study, an antibacterial biomedical magnesium (Mg) alloy with a low biodegradation rate was designed,
and ZK30-0.2Cu-xMn (x = 0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 wt%) was produced by selective laser melting, which is a widely applied
laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing technology. Alloying with Mn evidently influenced the grain size, hardness,
and biodegradation behavior. On the other hand, increasing Mn content to 0.8 wt% resulted in a decrease of biodegradation
rate which is attributed to the decreased grain size and relatively protective surface layer of manganese oxide. Higher Mn
contents increased the biodegradation rate attributed to the presence of the Mn-rich particles. Taken together, ZK30-0.2Cu-
0.8Mn exhibited the lowest biodegradation rate, strong antibacterial performance, and good cytocompatibility.

Keywords: Magnesium alloy; Selective laser melting; Biodegradation; Antibacterial activity; Grain refinement

*Correspondence to: Dengfeng Yin, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, P.R. China;
206191@csu.edu.cn.

Received: June 21, 2020; Accepted: August 28, 2020; Published Online: October 30, 2020
Citation: Xie B, Zhao MC, Xu R, et al., 2021, Biodegradation, Antibacterial Performance and Cytocompatibility of a Novel ZK30-
Cu-Mn Biomedical Alloy Produced by Selective Laser Melting. Int J Bioprint, 7(1):300.http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v7i1.300

1. Introduction the growth and development of bones and improve
hematopoietic function of the body . However, the
[12]
Magnesium (Mg) alloy is a new metal implant material uniform dispersion of Mn in Mg alloys remains a big
that has suitable rates of biodegradation and good challenge in conventional casting process because Mn
biocompatibility [1-4] . The further research is the development reduces the fluidity of Mg alloys which facilitates Mn
of antibacterial Mg alloys, such as Cu-containing Mg alloys. segregation . Hence, it is necessary to develop a method
[13]
These are promising biodegradable antibacterial implant to produce homogeneous Mn-containing Mg alloys.
materials [5-7] because Cu can provide an antibacterial effect Selective laser melting (SLM) as a widely applied
which can resolve clinical infection in bone regeneration laser powder bed fusion metallic additive manufacturing
and in other orthopedic applications. However, the technology [14-22] can rapidly melt mixed powders of Mn
degradation rate of Cu-containing Mg alloys is very rapid and Mg alloys and cause rapid solidification in the melt
because the Cu-containing intermetallic compounds cause pool, resulting in a homogenous microstructure with
microgalvanic corrosion [5-7] . Alloying has been widely used fine grains. Therefore, SLM can produce homogeneous
to ameliorate the degradation rate of Mg alloys. Mn-containing Mg alloys that are expected to have a
Alloying with Mn may refine the grain size and refined grain size and a lower corrosion rate. Furthermore,
decrease the corrosion rate [8-10] . Moreover, Mn is an grain refinement can increase the mechanical properties.
essential trace element in the human body and the Mn As stated above, alloying Mn into a antibacterial
that is released during Mg alloy degradation is non-toxic Cu-containing Mg alloy using SLM was suggested and
to human body . Appropriate Mn level can promote investigated in this article to decrease the corrosion rate
[11]
© 2020 Xie, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
work is properly cited.
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